DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 



OF THE 



UNITED STATES, ^'2-^ 



BY 



DR. GEORGE VASEY, 

BOTANIST OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
ALSO 

THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 



OF 



AMERICAN GRASSES, 



CLIFFORD RICHARDSON, 

ASSISTANT CHEMIST. 



TVASniXGTOX: 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 



188i. 



2218 



WASHiNaTON, D. C, July 1, 1884. 
Sir : I herewith submit a special report on the grasses of the United 
States which are either native or naturalized and which have more 
or less agricultural value. 
Respectfully yours, 

GEO. VASEY, 
Botanist of the Department. 

Hon. George B. Loring, 
Commissioner, 



REPORT. 



Every thoughtful farmer realizes the imi^ortance of the production on 
his land of a good supply of grass for pasturage and hay. He, who can 
produce the greatest yield on a given number of acres, will be the most 
successful man J yet this is a subject which has been, and still is, 
greatly neglected. 

In the United States we have many climates, many kinds of soil, many 
geological formations, many degrees of aridity and moisture. It must 
be apparent that one species of grass cannot be equally well adapted to 
growth in all parts of this extensive territory ; yet hardly a dozen spe- 
cies of grasses have been successfully introduced into our agriculture. 
True it is that this number answers with a tolerable degree of satisfac- 
tion the wants of quite an extensive portion of the country, chiefly the 
northern and cooler regions. But it is well known that in other local- 
ities the same kinds of grasses do not succeed equally well, and one of 
the most important questions for those regions is to obtain such kinds 
as shall be thoroughly adai)ted to their peculiarities of climate and soil. 
This is particularly the case in the Southern and Southwestern States, 
the arid districts of the West, aud in California. 

The solution of this question is largely a matter of experiment and 
observation. 

The grasses which we have in cultivation were once wild grasses, and 
are still such in their native homes. 

The question then arises, can we not select from our wild or native 
species some kinds which will be adapted to cultivation in those por- 
tions of the country which are not yet provided with suitable kinds ? 
Many observations and some experiments in this direction have already 
been made, and if proper research is continued, and sufSciently thorough 
experiments are followed up, there is no reason to doubt that proper 
kinds will be found for successful cultivation in all parts of the country. 

GRASSES OF THE GREAT PLAINS. 

The plains lying west of the one hundredth meridian, together with 
much broken and mountainous interior country, nearly treeless and arid, 
in New Mexico, Western Texas, and Arizona, are nearly useless for the 
purposes of ordinary agriculture, but are becoming more and more im- 
portant as the great feeding ground for the multitudes of cattle which 
supply the wants of the settled regions of our country, as well as the 
constantly increasing foreign demand. The pasturage of this re'gion 
consists essentially of native grasses, some of which have acquired a 



6 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

wide reputation for their rich nutritious properties, for their ability to 
withstand the dry seasons, and for the quality of self-drying or curing, 
so as to be available for pasturage in the winter. This quality is due 
probably to the nature of the grasses themselves and to the effect oi 
the arid climate. It is well known that in moist countries, at lower 
altitudes, the grasses have much succulence ; they grow rapidly, and their 
tissues are soft ; a severe frost checks or kills their growth, and chemical 
changes immediately occur which result in rapid decay; whereas in the 
arid climate of the plains the grasses have much less succulence, the 
foliage being more rigid and dry, and therefore when their growth is 
arrested by frost the tissues are not engorged with water, the desiccat- 
ing influence of the climate prevents decay, and the grass is kept on the 
ground in good condition for winter forage. General Benjamin Alvord, 
of the United States Army, has recently published an article on the 
subject of these winter-cured grasses, and states that they only acquire 
this property on land which is 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. 
The region having such an altitude includes, he says, all, nearly up to 
the timber line, of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, 
and I^ew Mexico ; five-sixths of Arizona, one-half of Dakota, one-fourth 
of Texas, one-fifth of Kansas, and one-sixth each of California, Oregon, 
and Washington Territory, embracing about one-fourth of the area of 
the whole United States. 

Many of the grasses of this extensive region are popularly known as 
bunch grass," from their habit of growth ; others are known as ''mes- 
quite" and '^gramma grass." These consist of many species of differ- 
ent genera, some 6f them more or less local and sparingly distributed^ 
others having a wide range from Mexico to British America. 

The most important of the " bunch grasses " may be briefly mentioned 
as follows : Of the genus 8ti2)a there are several species ; Sti2m comata 
and lSU])a setigera occur abundantly in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, 
and California, reaching to Oregon. In Colorado, Kansas, and all the 
prairie region northward, stretching into British America, Stipa juncea 
is the principal one of the genus. On the higher plateaus and near the 
mountains the Sti])a viridula is very common, extending from Arizona 
to Oregon and British America. Somewhat related botanically is 
Eriocoma cuspidata, a very rigid bunch grass, with a fine, handsome 
panicle of flowers. It is equally widespread with the preceding. An- 
other widely diffused grass is Aira ccespitosa, varying much in size and 
thriftiness according to the altitude and amount of moisture where it 
grows, but always having a light, elegant spreading panicle of silvery- 
gray flowers. 

One of the most extensively diffused grasses is Kceleria cristatciy 
varying in height from to 1 foot to 2^ feet, with a narrow and closely- 
flowered spike. Several species of fescue grass {Festuca) are inter- 
mixed with the vegetation in varying proportions j the most impor- 
tant of these, probably, are Festuca ovina in several varieties, and 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 



Festuca scabrella, the latter especially in California, Oregon, and Wash- 
ington. 

The genus Calamagrostis (or Beyeuxia, as it is now called) furnishes 
several species which contribute largely to the vegetation of this re- 
gion. They are mostly tall, stiff, and coarse grasses, but leafy and 
some of them very nutritious. Of these Deyeuxia sylvatica stud Beyenxia 
stricta are the least valuable. Perhaps the best of them is Deyeuxia 
canadensis, which is soft and leafy. Xext in value, probably, is De- 
yeuxia aleutica of California and Oregon, extending into Alaska. Cal- 
amagrostis (AmmopliiJa) longifoUa, confined chiefly to the plains east of 
the Eocky Mountains, is tall and reed-like, growing in dense clumps, 
from 4 to 6 feet high. 

Several species of Andropogon are diffused from Arizona to British 
America, but are not found on the western coast. The principal species 
are Andropogon scoparius, A. furcatus and A. [Chrysopogon) nutans. 
Some of them are known under the name of blue-joint. 

Other grasses also widely spread, but in more sparing quantity are 
several species of Foa and Glyceria. Several varieties of Triticum [Ag- 
ropyrum) repeus, or Couch grass, occur abundantly in saline soils, and 
also Agropyrum glaucum, which is widely known as blue-stem and is 
considered among the most nutritious of grasses. Brizopyrum spicatum 
now. culled Distichlis maritima, and some species of Sjmroholus, iilso form 
extensive patches or meadows in saline soils. Besides, there is a large 
number of grasses of low growth and of more spreading habit, which are 
known in the southwest and east of the Eocky Mountains under the 
names of mesquite and buffalo grasses. The former belong mostly to 
the genus Boiiteloua, the most important species being B. racemosa 
or tall mesquite, and B. oligostacliya or low mesquite. The true buffalo 
grass is botanically Buchloe dactyloides, which in many places forms ex- 
tensive fields or areas. It is of a low and densely-tufted or matted habit. 
Another similar grass, spreading out in low, wide patches is Munroa 
squorrosa. The above-mentioned species form the larger proportion of 
the grassy vegetation of the great plains. 

GRASSES OF MONTANA. 

Prof. F. L. Scriber, of Girard College, Philadelphia, au accomplished 
botanist, spent the past summer in Montana in au investigation of the 
agricultural capabilities of the country, and he has furnished some val- 
uable notes on the grasses of that region, from which we give the fol- 
lowing vselections : 

^'Beckmannia erucafonnis.—Gvovrs along the wet banks of streams, 
rivers, and irrigating ditches, never away from a constant and abundant 
supply of water. In favorable localities it attains the height of 3 feet, 
and yields an abundance of tender herbage. Well adapted for cultiva- 
tion. 

HierocMoa horealis. — Common along the streams and rivers in the 



8 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



mountainous districts, frequently occupying extensive areas to the ex- 
clusion of all other grasses. 

^'Alopecurtis glaucus. — Yery common along mountain streams and fre- 
quently covering acres of the so-called mountain meadows. Its slender 
but leafy culms grow to the height of 3 feet or more, and it is called in 
some localities ' native timothy,' which it resembles in habit. It yields 
to the acre a great bulk of fine, long, bright- colored hay, for which pur- 
pose it is often harvested and highly valued. It has little value for 
grazing. It grows most luxuriantly between the altitudes of 5,000 and 
6,000 feet. Under cultivation I see no reason why this grass should not 
become as celebrated on the great western plateau as is its near rela- 
tive, the meadow foxtail, in the moist climate of England. 

" Stipa comata. — Common on the bench lands, growing in soil too 
gravelly and thin for Poa tenuifolia. In richer soil it grows tall and 
l^'roduces a great abundance of forage. 

" IStiim viridilla. — This is the most valuable of the Stipas, growing in 
light, sandy loam, frequently covering large areas to the exclusion of 
other species. In favorable localities it attains the height of 3 feet. 
The associated species are Stipa comata^ Poa tenuifolia, s^nd Koeleria cris- 
tata. 

Eriocoma (Oryzopsis) cuspidata, abundant on the lower sandy bench 
lands bordering the Missouri. It is one of the esteemed ' bunch grasses' 
and thrives on soil too sandy for other valuable species. 

Phleum aljnnum, called 'native timothy it grows in mountainous 
regions near streams, ascending to the altitude of seven or eight thou- 
sand feet. At elevations between five and six thousand feet I have seen 
this grass growing in rich open woods along with common timothy 
(Phleum pratense), and it was tlie more luxuriant of the two — not so tall, 
perhaps, but growing to the height of 2 feet, with larger and more leafy 
culms. I see no reason why, in the region where this grass grows nat- 
urally in such luxuriance, it may not take the place in cultivation of the 
well-known and justly valued timothy of the East. 

''Agrostis exarata. — Grows only along the rich, moist banks of streams 
in the mountain districts. Apparently a valuable grass to introduce 
into cultivation. 

" Deyeuxia Canadensis. — Common along streams. There is a species 
olWed to Deyeuxia neglecta, perhaps only a variety of it, that grows upon 
the dry bench lands along with Poa tenuifolia and Kcderia cristata^ and 
so closely resembling the latter in habit that at a little distance it is 
difficult to distinguish the one from the other. 

" Deschampsia cmpitosa is common in moist meadows even when the 
soil is higlily alkaline. It yields an abundant growth of stalks and 
leaves, and may have some value, but it is not recognized as a forage 
plant. 

Bouteloua oligostachya, the ' buifalo grass,' of Montana. Abundant 
on the lower benches at elevations of from 3,000 to 4,500 feet, and 



THE AGRICULTURAL GttASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 



regarded as one of tlie most valuable of the forage grasses. It stands 
tramping better than any other species, and comes in when other species 
have been tramped out. Its fine, curly leaves make a dense turf of 
highly nutritious herbage. The true buffalo grass (Bucldoe) was not 
seen. 

Kceleria cristata, called ' June grass,' is very common on the bench 
lands, disputing possession with Poa tentiifoUa. These two maj be said 
to be the most common grasses of the low districts. 

IHstichlis maritima, or 'salt grass,' is common in alkaline soil 
along the rivers. It is of little or no value for forage, and considered a 
great nuisance in agriculture, as its tough and matted roots form a sod 
that is almost impossible to be broken up. 

" Poa. — All the Poas, wherever growing in abundance, yield much ex- 
cellent food for stock. On the mountain tops we find Poa alpina^ Poa 
Jam, and Poa ccesia. Poa Xeradensis is common along mountain stream*^ 
and on the slopes we find Poa serotina and Poa nenioralis. Poa pratensis 
is truly indigenous, and grows abundantly along the streams and rivers. 
Poa temnfolia, in its various forms, may be called the grass of the coun- 
try. It constitutes the chief forage upon the dryest bench lands, where 
it is called ' bunch grass,' or, on account of its reddish color, ' red-top.' 
Another local name is ' red- topped buffalo grass.' In dry situations 
its culms are low and slender, and the foliage is confined to the dense 
radical tuft, the leaves of the stem being very short and of little ac- 
count. When growing in rich soil, along streams or on land naturally 
irrigated, it makes a luxuriant growth of stems and foliage 2 to 6 feet 
high ; and a field of Poa temiifoUa in bloom i^resents as fine an appear- 
ance as does a field of Kentucky blue grass in the East, and the pro- 
duce per acre, I should think, nearly the same. This and Koeleri cristata 
are usually associated, and both bloom about the same time, June 15 
to 30. As fine a field of natural grasses as I saw in Montana contained 
Poa temiifolia, Koeleria cristata^ Stipa viridula, and Stipa comata as the 
leading species, the Poa being the most abundant. In this field the 
Sti2)as were unusually fine, overtopping the other grasses. 

^^Festuca scahreUa, the ' great bunch grass' and ' buffalo bunch grass,' 
is one of the principal grasses of the country. It is the prevailing species 
on the foot-hills and mountain slopes at from six to seven thousand feet. 
In respect to elevation above the sea, the following is the order of the most 
important grasses of the grazing lands of Montana: Bouteloua oUgos- 
taehya, Poa tenuifoUa, Kceleria cristata, and Agropyrum glaucum occupy 
the low lands and benches; then Agropyrum dicergens ; above this 
is Festuca ovina, var., and above all comes Festuca scahreUa. In any 
of the mountain valleys the belts of altitude occupied by these grasses 
are well defined: First and lowest, Poa tenu folia prevails; between this 
and Festuca ovina there is usuallj', though not always, a belt of Agro- 
ptyrum dirergens. Usually, at about 6,000 feet, Festuca ovina gives way 
to Festuca scahrella. The latter may be regarded as the more abundant 



10 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



and valuable species of the two. It is rather too liard a grass for sheep, 
but there is uo more valuable grass on the ' summer ranges' for cattle 
and horses. It makes excellent hay for horses, and is cut in large quan- 
tities for this puri)0se. It grows in large tussocks, making it rather 
a difficult grass to mow with a machine. Festuca ovina, car. jjrevails in 
the mountain regions on a line of altitude just beloAv Festuca scabrella, 
growing in close bunches, and yields a large amount of forage for all 
kinds of stock. 

Agropyrum glaucum, 'blue-joint' and 'blue-stem,' is the most 
highly praised of the native grasses for hay. Wherever this grass oc- 
cupies exclusively any large area of ground, as it frequently does in the 
lower districts, especially near Fort Benton, it is cut for hay. Natur- 
ally, it does not yield a great bulk, but its quality is unsurpassed. It 
has a tough, creeping root, like the ' couch grass' of the Eastern States, 
and by some is regarded as a variety of it. After two or three cuttings 
the yield of hay diminishes so much that it is scarcely worth the harvest- 
ing. An effectual way to increase the stand of grass after a succession 
of cuttings, as proved by actual experiment, is to drag over the sod a 
short-toothed harrow, which breaks up the roots or underground stems, 
and each fragment of root then makes a new plant. 

Rordeum jubatum, or 'fox- tail grass,' is common on the low lands, 
especially where there is moisture. It is looked upon as one of the 
worst of weeds. Its presence with other grasses destroys their value 
entirely for hay. 

" Elymus condensattis, or ' wild-rye grass,' is the only species that is 
known popularly. It grows along the streams and rivers, often covering 
extensive areas. It is valued chiefly as a winter forage grass. It yields 
a great bulli of coarse hay, but is rarely harvested. When growing in 
fields of 'blue-joint' the blue-joint is cut and the rye grass is left stand- 
ing. If cut before flowering it makes a good hay, but if left until it 
comes into flower, it is not only too hard for hay, but is too hard to 
cut, except with a bush-scythe." 

In connection with this subject the question arises, what effect will 
continued pasturage have upon the perpetuity of the grasses composing 
these great pasture-fields ? Probably in the course of time certain spe- 
cies will disappear, being unable to withstand the constant tramping 
and cropping by cattle and sheep, and it will be necessary to fill their 
place with more hardy species. If this is not done by self-propagation 
it will then become necessary for the proprietors of the land to make 
selection from the native species which prove hardy, or to seek out suit- 
able species from other countries. It can hardly be doubted that among 
our very many native species there are those which will meet the re- 
quirements of the occasion, but much careful observation and many 
trials and experiments will need to be made before the question is satis- 
factorily determined. To an intelligent performance of this work a 
knowledge is first required of the characteristics, habits, and names of 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 11 

the species now occupying the ground, and a very important aid to the 
acquisition of this knowledge will be found in the present work, with 
its descriptions and figures of a large number of the common grasses 
now prevailing in different parts of the country. A careful study of 
these and comparison with the living plants will enable an ordinary ob- 
server to identify the grasses which may come under his observation. 

A chapter is also presented on the structure and characteristics of 
grasses in general, their various organs and parts, and the technical 
terms by which they are distinguished. 

Where tbe species of a genus or order of i)lants are so numerous and 
so closely related as they are in the case of the grasses it is imi^ossible, 
without an immense repetition of words, to describe accurately the dif- 
ferences between different kinds by the use of popular language. Any 
one, therefore, who may wish to obtain an accurate acquaintance with 
them will find it necessarj^ to learn something of the botanical terms used 
in describing lolants. We hope, therefore, that the reader will not be dis- 
mayed by the use of the technical descriptions, but will consult the 
glossary, where the terms are explained. 

Among the younger readers, and especially, we may hope, among 
agricultural students, there are many who will be glad to have precise 
and scientific descriptions, for this is an age of i^rogress, and an age 
when even the labor of the farm may be enlivened and beautified by 
mental improvement and by a scientific knowledge of the common ob- 
jects of life. 

For a close study of the flowers of grasses a small magnifier or lens, 
single or double, will be needed. One magnifying five to ten diameters 
will be sufficient, and such a one can generally be purchased at a jewel- 
er's for a dollar or two. 

Within the limits of the United States there are about six hundred 
species of grasses, mostly native, a few naturalized from other coun- 
tries. Many of these species are either too small, too coarse, too sparse,^ 
or in some other way wanting in the character needed for a good agri- 
cultural grass. But it is certain that among this great number there 
are some which will be found suitable for cultivation at least in special 
districts. We have here selected from all parts of the country about 
one hundred and twenty species for description and illustration. 

GENERAL REMARKS ON GRASSES. 

The name grass in popular usage is hj no means a definite term, as 
it is often applied to i)lants which have no botanical relationship. In 
a popular sense it includes the sedges, rushes, various plants with grass- 
like leaves, and sometimes such widely different plants as clover. On 
the other hand, many persons will be surprised on being informed that 
all the cereals, as wheat, barley, rye, oats, sugar-cane, sorghum, Indian 
corn, rice, and bamboo are true grasses. In this paper, however, we 
consider mainly such grasses as are used for pastures, meadows, or fod- 
der purposes, or which have some importance in that direction. 



12 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF GRASSES. 

A grass possesses the following parts : (1) the root, (2) the culm, 
(3) the leaves, (4) the flowers. 

(1.) The roots are the fibrous ramificatious which extend downward 
into the ground and appropriate the water or other liquid nutriment to 
be conveyed into the stem and leaves. 

(2.) The stem or culm is the ascending part which commonly rises 
above ground, either erect or reclining. Sometimes the culm is hori- 
zontal and subterranean, sending out erect branches and fibrous roots 
at the joints. These are called creeping stems, or, improperly, creeping 
roots. They are botanically called rhizomes, and sometimes are sev- 
eral feet long. In some grasses there is a kind of bulb at the base of 
the stem, in which is stored a concentration of nutriment for the support 
of the plant under peculiar circumstances, as in protracted drought. 
This bulbous formation is a part of the stem, and not of the root. The 
stem or culm of grasses is usually cylindrical and hollow ; sometimes it 
is more or less compressed or flattened. It is divided at intervals by 
transverse thickened i)ortions called joints or nodes, at which points 
leaves and sometimes branches are given off. These nodes tend also to 
strengthen the stem. Stems are usually simple and unbranched, except 
at the top, where they commonly divide into the more or less numerous 
branches of the panicle or flowering part. But some stems give rise 
from the side joints to leafy branches, which may, like the main stem, 
produce smaller i3anicles at the top. 

(3.) The leaves take their origin at the nodes or joints in two 
ranks — that is, they are placed alternately on opposite sides of the stem 
at greater or less distances — thus, the first leaf will be on one side, the 
second on the opposite side a little higher up, the third still higher and 
directly over the first, the fourth over the second, and so on. The 
leaves consist of three parts : (1) the sheath, (2) the Ugule, and (3) the 
blade. The sheath is that part which clasps the stem. It is generally 
open on one side, as will be readily observed in the leaves of a corn- 
stalk, but in some grasses the sheath is partly or even completely 
closed together by the adhesion of the opposite edges. The sheath is 
analogous to the stem or petiole of the leaves of many higher j)lants. 
The ligule : At the point where the blade of the leaf leaves the stem, at 
the top of the sheath and on the inner side, there is usually a small, 
thin, leaf like organ, called the ligule or tongue. This is sometimes half 
an inch long, more commonly only two orHhree lines, and sometimes it 
is almost absent or reduced to a short ring, but its length and size is 
very constant in the same species. This ligule represents the stipules 
which occur at the base of the leaves in many of the higher plants. 
The blade or lamina of the leaf is the expanded part which is commonly 
called leaf. In the majority of grasses the leaf is long and narrow ; 
that is, many times longer than wide. There is one central nerve, called 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 

the midnerve or midrib^ extending to the point of the leaf, and numerous 
fine lines or nerves on each side running parallel to each other, and not 
connected by transverse nerves and not giving oft* branches as in the 
higher plants. These leaves are in some species rough, in others 
smooth, hairy, or downy, &c. The agricultural value of a grass depends 
mainly upon the quantity, quality, size, and nutritive properties of the 
leaves. 

(4.) The flowers : The flowers of the grasses are generally at the end 
of the stem or the side branches, sometimes very few in number, some- 
times in great abundance, sometimes in a close spihe^ and sometimes in 
a panicle, with many spreading branches or rays. The flowers may be 
single on the branches or on the j)e^ice?«, or they may be variously clus- 
tered. In the common red-top {Agrostis alba or A. vulgaris), there is a. 
single flower at the end of each of the small branchlets of the i3anicle^ 
Each of these flowers is inclosed by a pair of small leaf-like scales or 
chaff, called the outer or empty glumes. The flower consists of (1) the 
essential organs and (2) the envelopes. The essential organs are the 
stamens and pistils, which may readily be seen when the grass is in 
bloom. The stamens, of which there are usually three in each flower, 
consist of the anther and filament, the anther being the small organ 
which contains the pollen or dust which fertilizes the pistil or female 
organ, and the filament being the thread-like stem on which the anthers 
are borne. 

The pistil is the central organ of the flower, and consists of three 
parts, the ovary, the style, and the stigmas. In most of the grasses the 
styles are divided into two branches which have a handsome plumose 
appearance. The stigmas are the delicate parts at the extremity of 
these branches which receive the pollen for the fertilization of the flower^ 
and the ovary is that part at the base which contains the future seed. 

The envelopes of the flower are usually two leaf -like scales or husks in- 
closing between them stamens and pistil ; these scales face each other, 
one being a very little higher on the axis than the other, and alsa 
usually smaller and more delicate in texture. This smaller scale is called 
the palet; the other larger and usually coarser one is called the flower- 
ing glume ; its edges generally overlap and partly inclose the palet. 

The j^oMJ^r constituted as above described, together with the pair of 
outer or empty glumes at the base, form what is called a spiJielet. In 
many cases, however, there, are two three, or more flowers, sometimes 
even ten to twenty, in one spikelet, in which case they are arranged 
alternately on opposite sides of the axis, one above the other, with a 
pair of empty or outer glumes at the base of the cluster. Such may be 
seen in the blue grass (Poa pratensis), fescue grass (restuca)^ and many 
others. 

There are innumerable modifications of these floral organs, and upon 
the differences which exist in them the distinction of genera and species 
are based. In some cases the glumes are entire in outline, in some they 



14 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



are toothed andlobed, and sometimes running out into a slender point 
called an awn, sometimes with a bristle or awn on the back, &c. They 
also vary in size from the twentieth part of an inch to an inch or more in 
length. 

Authorities consulted. — In the preparation of this work reference has 
been had to many authorities, both scientific and practical. Among 
those who have written practically on the uses and the cultivation of 
grasses the following-named works have been consulted and frequently 
^qnoted. Flint on Grasses and Forage Plants ; Grasses and their Culture, 
by Hon. J. Stanton Gould Manual of Grasses at the South, by 0. W. 
Howard 5 The Grasses of Tennessee, by J. E. Killebrew ; The Farm- 
er's Book of Grasses, by Prof. D. L. Phares, of Mississippi. 

It is not thought necessary here to take up a systematic classification 
of the grasses farther than their arrangement in regular sequence, as 
the classification will be found fully described in the special report '^o, 
63. 

WINTER GRAZING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 

An article by General Benjamin Alvord, in a recent Bulletin of the 
American Geographical Society, with the above title, is deserving of 
extended publication and of careful study. 

Our space will only allow us to give an abridgment of the article. 

General Alvord says: 

During the last fourteen years a revelation has dawned on the people of the United 
States, respecting the resources for winter grazing in the whole Rocky Mountain re- 
gion. It is now known that all land over about 3,000 feet above the level of the sea 
has these qualities, viz, that without shelter, all the domestic animals can find ample 
food on the nutritious, summer-cured grasses of (hose plateaus, and that niyriads of 
those animals are yearly raised by the great capitalists and others in our Western 
regions. The experiment has now for so many years been tried that it is not con- 
sidered at all problematical, and although winters of great severity may occur, it is 
admitted that on an average the losses in the herds by the vicissitudes of the weather 
do not exceed 5 per cent, of the whole number. 

General Alvord then proceeds to explain why this fact was so long 
unknown : 

Surely it is extraordinary that so salient a fact as to the resources of this country 
should not have been fully known until the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad 
in 1869. My Army station from 1852 to 1865 was in Oregon or Washington Territory, 
and at Omaha from 1867 to 1871. Thus, I was thrown in the course of my official 
travels into regions giving me opportunities for observation, which I embraced. But 
I must confess that notwithstanding my knowledge of the benefits of the cured bunch- 
grasses in Oregon, east of the Cascade Mountains, and my large intercourse with emi- 
grants yearly arriving on the Pacific slope, and with the officers and scientists of 
many exploring expeditions, it was not until during my residence in Omaha and my 
journeys over the Union Pacific Railroad that I knew of the immense resources for 
winter grazing on the Rocky Mountain plateaus which cover probably one-fourth of 
our whole territory. Our total area is 4,000,000 square miles, and we can safely add 
that the region for winter grazing is about a million of square miles, if not more — not 
including any portion of Alaska. The moment California, New Mexico, and the other 



THE .AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 15 



territories were acquired from Mexico in 1848, our Government turned its attention to 
the Pacific slope, and to the necessity of a Pacific railroad, and sundry exploring ex- 
peditions were organized in 1853 to examine the various routes — northern, southern, 
and central. Thf se expeditions, and those preceding, of Lewis and Clarke, of Long, 
of Bonneville, and of Fremont, gave to the world a great mass of information of all 
kinds concerning those little known regions. Each of the Pacific railroad exploring 
parties had scientists of the greatest repute in various branches of investigation, aa 
geology, botany, and natural history, and had with them experienced guides, hunters, 
woodsmen, mountaineers, and prairie-men; and all these were as ignorant as the rest 
of the winter resources of that vast domain. The reason was that all the explorations 
were made in summer, each party returning to winter in lower altitudes in the settle- 
ments without any attempt to discover and unveil the winter characteristics of the 
mountain regions. 

We learned at Oi^aha that the discovery of the resources of the Rocky Mountain 
plateaus for winter grazing was really made during the war by the parties under that 
enterprising man, the late Edward Creighton (afterward president of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Omaha), who had taken the contract to build the telegraph line from 
Omaha to San Francisco. One winter their animals were left to graze in the elevated 
pastures of those regions, and were found in the spring in splendid order for the prose- 
cution of their labors. This fact was utilized by Mr. Creigton, and it was the founda- 
tion of his large fortune, made in great part by stock-raising in Western Nebraska and 
Wyoming. These facts soon became known. By the time the Union Pacific Railroad 
was completed, in 1869, th^ enterprising capitalists and herdsmen of the West were 
aroused and ready to avail themselves of this new and promising mode of investment. 

General Alvord proceeds further, as follows : 

We will now undertake to explain the anomaly that the grasses of the arid plateaus 
are ready at all seasons for grazing, whereas in winter in all the lower altitudes they 
are not. Heat and moisture will cause the grasses in autumn and in winter to rot. 
With us they decay and, unless cut in season, cured and made into hay, are lost to 
use. 

In the arid Rocky Mountain plateaus the grasses, as they stand on the soil, are 
cured in the sun during the summer, the action of heat retaining and concentrating 
in the stalks the sugar, gluten, and other constituents of which they are composed. 
This is true of the bunch grasses, the buffalo and grama, and many similar grasses 
which pervade those regions. It is so cold and so dry in those elevations that there 
are neither heat nor moisture to rot them. And the snows are so fine (save in some 
exceptional seasons) in that cold atmosphere, that they are so blown by the winds 
into drifts, that four-fifths of the soil is never covered by them. Thus, the grass is ever 
accessible to the domestic and other animals, while the snow is so fine that it falls 
from their backs; therefore they are not encumbered with a coating of frozen snow, 
which in the lower regions would go far towarfl killing the poor brutes. They find, 
shelter in the hollows, bushes, and forests during very severe weather. In the natu- 
ral abodes of the buffalo, antelope, and other wild animals, it is found that our valued 
domestic animals can in like manner survive the winter. Countless millions of buf- 
faloes have ever subsisted on the buffalo grass. Although our domestic animals gen- 
erally prefer the other grasses, the buffalo grass does not fail to be one of their re- 
sources. 

The difficulties in lower altitudes than those I have described have been that after 
a warm spe'jl and a thaw, the snow freezes to a crust and the grass is matted down 
by the ice, and kept from the stock. East of the Cascade Mountains, in the arid por- 
tion of Oregon, bunch grasses and cured grasses are found near the Dalles, where it is 
only 300 or 400 feet above the sea. In December, 1852, I witnessed such a thaw, fol- 
lowed by freezing, which kept the oxen from getting to the grasses, and consequently 
large num'bers died of starvation. If they had been wintered near Fort Boise or any- 



16 THE AGRICULTUKAL GEASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



where 3,000 feet above the sea, they would have thriven on the rich bunch grasses 
ever accessible on those plains. Sheep should always have shelter from the cold 
winds, but no other stock requires it. 

In Texas the grazing grounds are mostly at so low a level above the sea that the 
grasses rot in winter. Hence, in the latter part of winter, the animals there are often 
poor, and it is difficult to provide food for them. Thus it isthat the vast herds started 
from Texas to be driven to market acquire flesh and improve every hundred miles of 
their journey north, as they reach new and well-advanced pastures. 

But we must now allude to another element which prepares the elevated regions for 
winter grazing, viz, that the climate is much warmer than in the regions east of it in 
the same latitude. The isothermal lines all ascend in moving westward. 

At Omaha cattle and horses must have shelter in winter, but none is needed at Fort 
Laramie. The extreme severity at Fort Buford, Dak., 1,900 feet above the sea is, in 
like manner, contrasted with the weather at Fort Phil Kearney or Powder Kiver, 6,000 
feet above the sea, or with the winter climate of Forts Custer and Keogh. 

Ssientists are not yet able to assign satisfactory reasons for these anomalies; per- 
haps they are inscrutable. Why in ascending the slopes of the Rocky Mountain pla- 
teaus a warmer climate should be encountered is a proper field for future consideration 
and investigation. It still remains a paradox. 

We can make the following statement as to the region higher than 3,000 feet above 
the sea, fit for winter grazing. It includes all, nearly up to the timber line, of Mon- 
tana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and New Mexico, and five-sixths of 
Arizona, one-half of Dakota, one-third of Nebraska, one-fifth of Kansas, one-fourth of 
Texas, and one-sixth each of California, Oregon, and Washington Territory. This 
embraces, as we have already said, about one-fourth of the area of the whole United 
States. 

Strange enough, all the best authorities who have had opportunities for comparison 
say that those regions farthest north are the best. Brisbin, page 90, says : "Montana 
has undoubtedly the best grazing grounds in America, and parts of Dakota stand 
next." 

The writer thus engages in a consideration of the elevated plateaus 
of South America, Asia, and Africa, and a comparison with those of 
our own country, and thus proceeds as follows : 

1 shall now give some account of the various grasses which are found on the plat'eaus, 
and which are summer-cured. In Appendix C will be found a letter to me, of March 
1, 1883, from Dr. George Yasey, botanist of the Department of Agriculture, who has 
complied with my request to give me a concise statement of the names of the prin- 
Gipal grasses. 

In general parlance it has been supposed that what are called "bunch " grasses are 
in the northern portions of the Rocky Mountain range, and that the ''gama" or 
"grama" grasses were peculiar to the southern territories in New Mexico and Arizona- 
But I am satisfied, from personal inquiries of travelers (Marcy and Dutton among 
others), as well as from the statements of the botanists, that both the " bunch " grasses 
and others are found in each region. But it seems probable that the "gama" and 
"grama" grasses are found in the greatest abundance in the more southern portions. 
The "buifalo" ^rass or grasses (for the term is applied to more than one kind) are 
found throughout all the ranges of the buftalo from north to south. The term 
"bunch" grass was given because it grows in tufts or bunches a foot or more in 
height, sometimes two feet apart, so that the aspect from surrounding hills Avould 
often be that of a desert region. A green carpet is never or rarely seen. The buffalo 
grass grows as a low tuft, and it is summer-cured as it grows, like the other grasses 
under consideration. 

hy the courtesy of General F. A. Walker, Superintendent of the Census, I had the 
privilege of reading (before publication) a full and interesting paper by Prof William 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 17 



H. Brewer on Pasture aud Forage Plants." In the following statement I have often 
availed myself of some items from it. 

The term " bunch grass" has been applied to several kinds, aud we will name those 
prominently known : 

The Fesiuca scabreUa is the one best known on the Pacific slope, ranging from Cali- 
fornia to Oregon and Idaho. 

The Fesiuca occidentalis is also fouud there. 

The Festuca ovina (or sheep grass) in several varieties is found through the whole 
region of winter grazing, aud seems the world over to be found wherever sheep graze. 

Eriocoma ciisjnclata is one of the valuable bunch grasses generally prevaleut. 

Of the grasses termed " grama " Eragrostis po(BOides and Eragrostis oxylepis are called 
grama grasses. The former in Texas is sometimes called one of the buffalo grasses. 

Munroa sguarrosa, Mr. Brewer says, is a buffalo grass of the north, and one of the 
grama grasses of Texas. Calamagrostis longifolia has a wide range and is sometimes 
called "mesquit" and grama grass, and Calamagrosiis canadensis, sometimes called 
" blue joint." 

The terms " gama" and ''grama" are not interchangeable. Mr. Brewer says that 
Tripsacum daciyJoides is the "gama grass" of the South — a tall, coarse grass, from 3 to 
7 feet high — and is found from Texas to Illinpis and Connecticut. 

Though much confusion of names is in popular use in reference to all the grasses it 
seems to be admitted that the term " buffalo grass " is applied most justly to Bucliloe 
dactyJoides. It is one of the most nutritious of grasses aud pervades the whole range 
of the Rocky Mountain plateaus. 

The following is tlie letter of Dr. Vasey, referred to iu the preceding 
paper : 

Deah Sir : In reply to your request I offer the following remarks on the native 
grasses of the great plains and arid portions of the West. These grasses furnish the 
.chief resource of the immense herds of buffaloes and the vast droves of donvestic ani- 
mals which feed upon the plains, and from the habit of growth are, for the most part, 
known by the name of hunch grasses. They are chiefly grasses of rigid aspect, at least 
as respects their culms and leaves, some of them, however, forming a diffuse and ele- 
gant panicle of flowers. The most important of the bunch grasses may be briefly 
mentioned as follows : 

Of the genus Stipa there are several species. Stijm comata and Stipa setigera occur 
abundantly in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and the drier regions of California, reach- 
ing to Oregon. In Colorado, Kansas, and all the prairie region northward, stretching 
into British America, the Stipa juncea is the principal one of the genus. On the higher 
plateaus and near the mountains the Stijja viridida is very common, extending from 
Arizona to Oregon and British America. Somewhat related botanically is Eriocoma 
cusjndafa, a very rigid bunch grass with a fine, handsome panicle of flowers. It is 
equally widespread with the preceding. Another widely-diffused grass is Aira caespi- 
tosa, varying much in size and thriftiuess according to the altitude and amount of 
moisture where it grows, but always having a light, elegant, spreading panicle of 
silvery-gray flowers. 

One of the most exteusively-diffused grasses is Koeleria cristata, varying in height 
from one foot to two aud a half feet, with a narrow and closely-flowered spike. Sev- 
eral species of fescue grass (Festuca) are intermixed with the vegetation in varying 
proportions; the most important of these are probably the Festuca ovina, in several 
varieties, and Festuca scahreUa,t\ie latter especially in California, Oregon, and Wash- 
ington. 

The genus Calamagrostis furnishes several species, which contribute largely to the 
vegetation of this region. They are mostly tall, stiff, and coarse grasses, but leafy, 
and some of them very nutritious. Of these Calamagrosiis sylvatica and C. stricta are 
2218 GR 2 



18 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



least valuable. Perhaps the best of them is Calamagrosiis canadensis, which is soft 
and leafy. Next, perhaps, in value is Calamagrosiis aleutica, of California and Oregon, 
extendiDg into Alaska. Calamagrosiis longifolia, confined chiefly to the plains east of 
the Rocky Mountains, is tall and reed-like, growing in dense clumps, from four to six 
feet high. Several species oi'.Andropogon are diffused from Arizona to British Amer- 
ica on the plains, bnt are not found on the western coast. They are, however, not 
properly called bunch grass, as their habit of growth is more spreading. The princi- 
pal species are Andropogon scoparius, A. f iircatvs, and A. nutans. Some of them are 
known through the plain region as blue-joint or blue-stem. Others, more sparingly 
spread, are several species of Poa and Glyceria. Several varieties of Triticum repens 
or couch grass occur abundantly in saline soils, and are among the most UTitritious of 
grasses. Brizopyrum spicatum and species of Vilfa and Sporobolus also form extensive 
patches or meadows in saline soil. Besides the grasses already mentioned there are 
a large number of low growth and more diffused habit, which are known in the South- 
west and east of the Rocky Mountains under the names of mesquit and bwffalo 
grasses. The former belong mostly to the genus Bouteloua, the most important species 
being B. curtipendula, or tall mesquit, and B. oUyostacliya and B. hirsuta, or low mes- 
quit. The true buffalo grass is botanically Bnchloe dactyloides, which in some places 
forms extensive fields of its low and densely-tufted growth. Another similar grass 
spreading out m low patches is Mnnroa squarrosa. The above-mentioned species form 
the larger proportion of the grassy vegetation of the great ]3lains. 
Respectfully, 

GEO. VASEY, 

Botanlat. 

General Benjamin Alvord. 

REPORTS ON GRASS AlS'D GRASS CULTURE FROM ALL PARTS OF THE 

UN PTE D STATES. 

lu 1882 circulars were sent out by the Commissioner of Agriculture 
to agriculturists and farmers in all x)arts of the country asking- infor- 
mation as to the natural pasture grasses of this district, >Yhat kind of 
natural and cultivated grasses were used for hay and pasture, and what 
grasses could be suggested for experiment. A large number of reports 
were received and compiled by the assistant botanist, W. P. Conant, and 
a summary of the results is herewith given. As a general thing the cor- 
respondents were not acquainted with the botanic or technical names of 
the grasses, and gave the common or local name where there was one. It 
frequently happens that tlie same grass will have different local names 
even in places not far remote from each other, and also that the same 
name will be applied to grasses very unlike. Many have no common 
name and are referred to as wild grass, woods grass, swamp grass, &c. 

So, in examining the reports, a perplexing difficulty was often en- 
countered in not being able to determine to what species a grass be- 
longed from the name given. In some instances this difficulty was ob- 
viated by obtaining specimens of the iMants referred to ; in others they 
were not sent or failed to reach here. 

The reports were sent in with commendable promptness, and all 
evinced a great interest in the subject, and expressed a strong desire to 
aid the undertaking by all means in their power. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 19 



WASHmGTON TERRITORY AND OREGON. 

From Washington Territory twelve reports were received, and from 
Oregon thirty-one. They are so mnch alike that we consider them to- 
gether. 

NATIVE PASTURE GBASSES. 

Bunch-grass is found in the drier places and on the hills 5 wild pea- 
vine and a fevv^ wild grasses in the timber; clover upon bottom-lands; 
wild rye-grass, a species of elymus, upon lowlands, and a variety of 
mixed grasses upon the prairies. 

Several species of grass are called bunch-grass, the principal of which 
are Foa tenuifolia l!?utt, Festuca scahrella, Friocoma cuspiddta, and some 
of the species of Stipa. 

Bunch-grass, which formerly was the j)rincipal pasture grass upon 
the uplands, has become about extinct, partly from the land being taken 
for cultivation and partly from overfeeding. Its place has been taken 
by wild chess ( Bromiis secalinus) and other poor grasses. 

But little native grass is cut for hay; some little wild red-top, wild- 
rye grass, salt-marsh grass upon tide- water, and, east of the Cascades, 
a little bunch -grass is cut. 

CULTIVATED GRASSES. 

Timothy is found universally distributed throughout this section, and 
has become so well established that some consider it indigenous. It 
has so tenacious a hold upon the soil that it can scarcely be killed out. 
As a hay grass, timothy has no superior ; for a pasture grass, it gives 
out too early in July. 

Next in general diffusion come the clovers and orchard grass. Red- 
top, also, is quite common. Kentucky blue-grass, though not so exten- 
sively introduced, seems well adapted to some portions of this section. 

The soil and climate of Oregon and Washington Territory are ad- 
mirably adapted to the culture of grass, and any kind will do well if 
allowed a fair chance. There is a great diversity of soil ; and often on 
the same farm all:kinds may be found, from the black sandy loam to 
red clay. 

From some, come inquiries for a grass that will do well upon lands 
worn out by constant wheat-cropping ; others say that they are sowing 
clover on their exhausted lands to recuperate them, and no better ad- 
vice can be given the former than to do likewise. By this means the 
tired lands can soon be restored to fertility. 

, A better way, and one which the intelligent farmers will soon learn 
to follow, is to avoid depleting the land at all, but by a suitable rota- 
tion of crops, among which the clovers and grasses should have a prom- 
inent place, the lands can be kept in a normal state of fertility, and, 
being naturally rich, will yield a generous reward to the husbandman's 
toil. 



20 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



CALIFORNIA. 

From California tbirty-seven reports were received. They give the 
followiug as the principal grasses : 

NATIVE PASTURE GRASSES. 

Wild oats (Avena fatua)^ alfilaria {Erodium cictitarium), bur-clover 
(Medicago denticulata), wild clovers, of which there are several species, 
and bunch-grass, in the order named. In the northern part of the State 
a little wild rye-grass {Elymus)^ wild red-top, and wild pea-vine are 
found. 

Accounts from the central and southern counties state that the native 
bunch- grass, which formerly furnished a nutritious feed for a large part 
of the Pacific slope, has of late years become about extinct, and in some 
sections the alfilaria, bur-clover, and other forage plants, which were 
found on the uncultivated lands during spring and early summer, are 
slowly but surely dying out, and their places are being taken by a 
worthless grass that nothing will eat green or dry. 

Mr. CO. Tucker, of Ballena, attributes this gradual disappearance 
of the native grasses to the constant and too close pasturage at and 
prior to the time for matuiing tbeir seeds, and to a too i^ersistent pas- 
turage with sheep at other times, causing the ground to become thor- 
oughly trodden and compacted. This has been followed during the 
last few years by unusually hot and dry summers. He knows of no 
section where the need of useful forage i^lants is more severely felt than 
here. 

Mr. Mart. Walker, of Saint Helena, says that there is an intense de- 
sire among farmers to obtain a grass capable of resisting the intense 
heat and drought of summer, and aftord grazing for cattle during that 
period, and if possible one that will grow on poor soil. For the want 
of some such resource manj^ districts are fast becoming worthless. He 
says that this results from the system of continuous cropping to which 
the laud has been subjected for the last tbirty years. 

NATIVE GRASSES CUT FOR HAY. 

Except wild oats and bur-clover but little native grass is cut for hay. 
In the northern part of the State a little wild-rye grass, wild red top, 
and in some localities rushes are cut. 

CULTIVATED GRASSES. 

The various grains, as wheat, rye, and barley, cut when in the milk, 
are principally relied upon for hay in many parts of California. They 
come as volunteers, or very often after the grain is taken off a " half 
cast" of seed is sown on the stubble at the first rain in the fall and 
harrowed in. Wild oats are cut extensively, and alfalfa {Medicago 
sativa), often called lucern, is cultivated largely for hay, especially in 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 21 



the southern part of tbe State, where by irrigatiou large crops are 
made. 

Ill the northern and central counties timothy and clover are cut to 
some extent, and are commented on favorably. Thus far but very lit- 
tle attention has been given to this subject. The general system of 
farming in vogue here is so different from that of other jiarts of the 
country, and so few experiments have been made, that no particular 
grasses or forage x)lants can be recommended at this time. 

Further experiments and developments will have to determine the 
important question. 

IDAHO AND MONTANA. 

Bunch grass is common throughout the hill countrj^ In the lowlands 
the wild rye grass and other coarse grasses are found. Timothy is 
found successfully cultivated everywhere. In Idaho clover is culti- 
vated extensively, especially in the Boise Valley, where some very large 
crops are rex)orted. Some farmers have put their whole places in it. 
The small red clover is ijreferred. Alfalfa succeeds well in Montana. 

Timothy and clover are recommended for the bottoms, and alfalfa for 
the " bench lands.-' All the grasses would succeed well with attention. 
The soil and climate are well adapted to their growth, and all things 
seem favorable to their culture, both for pasture and hay. All the 
farmers have to do here is to avoid the mistake made in many new sec- 
tions, that of o\ erpasturing and continuous cropping, and for years 
to come they will have a never-ceasing source of wealth. 

UTAH. 

The principal native pasture grasses of Utah are the bunch grass, wire 
grass {Juncus Balticus)^ salt grass) Vilfa depmiperata)^ and buffalo grass 
(Buchloe dactyloides). The wire grass and salt grass are cut for hay. Lu- 
cern, or alfalfa (Medicago sativa), is cultivated for forage and hay to a 
greater extent than anything else, and succeeds well. In some counties 
scarcely any other forage plant is cultivated. 

Clover is reported successful in some places and timothy in others, 
though neither has been cultivated largely. 

NEW MEXICO. 

The gramma grass (Bouteloua) is common on the high ground through- 
out New Mexico. On the river bottoms there is a little blue grass. Al- 
falfa has been cultivated more than any other forage plant, and (m the bot- 
toms will thrive after the second year without irrigation. The millets 
have been raised some, and should receive more attention. No experi- 
ments worthy of note are reported. 

The reports from Utah and New Mexico were so few in number, and 
the area so great and so diversified that no suggestions can be made as 
to what grasses will be best adapted to this section. Many experi- 
ments will have to be made to determine this. 



22 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



TEXAS. 

NATIVE GE ASSES. 

From Texas there were sixty-nine reports. The natural pasture 
grasses consist of the mixed grasses usually fouud on the prairies 
which occupy so large a part of the State. The sage or sedge grass 
holds a i)rominent place among them; but when overpastured it is run 
out, and the mesquite, both hardier and better, takes it place. The 
mesquite is found in the northern, central, and southern parts of the 
State, but not much in the northeastern part. 

The term mesquite is used somewhat indefinitely, being applied to a 
number of grasses, but here it is probable that the buffalo grass of the 
plains {Buchloe daciyloides) is meant. It is found chiefly on the black 
lands. The gramma grass (BouteJoiia), of which there are some patches, 
Is rapidly disappearing, and is being replaced by the mesquite. Prairie 
grass thus far has been the chief reliance for hay as well as pasture. 

Texas has always been a great stock-raising State, and while the 
rauge was uninterrupted no attention was given to cultivating grass or 
to improving pastures. But of late years portions of the State have 
been rapidly filling up, and the range consequently diminishing, so now 
the farmers are giving considerable attention to improving their past- 
ures and to the hay crop. This, intelligent farmers write, should re- 
ceive all the encouragement and assistance possible. 

Mr. Talley says that the greatest difiiculty in making the culture 
of Kentucky blue grass a success is in getting it to live the first 
year. The same remark is applicable to most of the grasses. The 
main reason of failure, he says, is not so much on account of the 
drought as on account of the nature of the soil. It is loose and porous, 
and dries up very quickly on the surface; hence they often find it 
difficult to get a " stand" of turnips in the fall or a stand " of millet in 
the spring. The soil holds moisture well below the depth of 2 inches. 

He further says : 

I have taken great interest in investigating tbe subject of grasses, and my labors 
were awarded by tiuding a mucb greater variety on my place than I had ever sus- 
pected, and all I have to do is "to cultivate and take care of what I already possess, 
and cut the weeds to prevent their shading and smothering out the grasses already 
in the ground. 

Texas is naturally a great State, and only needs fair attention to 
succeed. Johnson grass and Bermuda are receiving considerable 
attention, and for the most part are spoken of favorably. 

Bur, or California clover, does well in this State, and is highly es- 
teemed in California for the feed it affords, though the burs or seed- 
pods stick to the wool of sheep and impair its value. Alfalfa is culti- 
vated largely here, and does very well. Timothy, orchard grass, and 
clover are not reported on so favorably as could be wished. 

The millets are cultivated quite extensively and do well. Mr. Clarke, 



THE AGRICULTUEAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 23 

of Hempstead, Waller County, Texas, has recently sent to the Depart- 
ment samples oisevwal kinds, among which were specimens of the so- 
called double-headed German millet 4 J feet high, and estimated to 
yield 3 tons to the acre. 

Mr. W. H. D. Garrington, of Austin, says that there is but one native 
grass cultivated for hay, and that is what is called Colorado bottom 
grass sometimes called goose grass, and in some places Green River 
grass {Panicum Texanum). The method of culture most commonly 
adopted is the same as that for crab grass. It comes voluntarily after 
corn is laid by." A few farmers have found it so profitable that they 
plow and harrow their land in winter and cut the grass as soon as it ma- 
tures. Jn this way they secure two crops annuall^^ It is preferred by 
all kinds of stock to Hungarian grass or to oats in the sheaf. It seeds 
itself freely. The hay sells now (February, 1882), at $25 per ton, while 
prairie haj^ sells at from $10 to $12 per ton. This might be intro- 
duced into the other Southern States without requiring any change in 
the method of culture generally pursued. It is figured and described 
in the re])ort for 1879. 

THE SOUTHERN STATES. 

The returns from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louis- 
iana are so similar in general character that they are considered to- 
gether, differences being noted as they occur. 

NATIVE PASTURE GRASSES. . 

By an examination of the returns from this section, crab grass (Pani- 
cum sanguinale) is found to be the most extensively' diffused pasture 
grass for summer and fall grazing, while crow-foot {Elemine Indioa) is 
quite common in Georgia and Florida. 

The sedge grass also holds a prominent place as a pasture grass in 
Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana, being reported from nearly one-half 
the counties. Several grasses are called sedge and broom sedge. They 
are for the most part some species of Andropogon or Stipa. 

Bermuda grass [Cynodon dactylon) is reported in over one-third of the 
counties, and is i)robably growing in many more, and though an intro- 
duced grass it has become so well established that it is generally re- 
ferred to as a native. The wild pea vine is also plentiful and in some 
places quite popular. In Florida it is said to do well on the poor sandy 
soil, and to endure the heat and drought of summer. Mexican clover 
(Eichardsonia seahra) is spreading over the sandy uplands along the 
coast. Tick trifoil, or tickseed, two species of JDesmodium^ is frequent 
in rich woods, and is esteemed as a milk-i^roduciug plant. Nimblewill 
(Muhlenbergia Mexicana and diffusa) are found in open woods in the 
northern and central counties. 

In Alabama and ^Mississippi, Japan clover (Lespedeza striata) has 
spread extensively over the roadsides and uncultivated fields. It will 



24 THE AGRICULTUEAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



grow nx)on all soils, even the poorest, and withstands the heat and 
drought of Slimmer remarkabl^^ well. It spreads rapidly, and some say 
it will root out the broom sedge and even Bermuda. It is rather a 
coarse plant, and should be tried only in places unsuitable for the bet- 
ter grasses. In Louisiana, crab grass, though still common, is gradually 
giving place as a pasture grass to Beruiuda and white clover. Several 
species of clover seem to be spreading over this section; some of them 
are said to afford considerable seed. 

The bur, or California clover (Meduago denticidata), is reported in two 
counties of Alabama, and has been successfully tried in Georgia. In 
California it is highly esteemed. 

Faspalum ovatum is found in Texas and Louisiana. It is highly 
spoken of as a pasture grass by those who have examined it. (See re- 
port of the botanist for 1880.) 

i^^umerous other grasses are found growing with the foregoing species^ 
but generally are of no particular value, and having for the most part 
no common names, they are spoken of as wild grasses, &c. 

In regard to native pasture grasses, Mr. Hawkins, of Hawkinsville, 
Ala., says : 

There is but very little grass of any kind here, except tlie wild varieties wliicli come 
spontaneously on all old fields with the broom sedge, and our very best pastures are 
on these old fields. Old fields when turned out usually grow weeds the first two 
years, and require about four years for them to become sodded with broom sedge. 
Burn this off in early spring, and with sufticient cattle it need never be burned 
again, as the cattle will keep it down, I have an excellent pasture of 150 acres of 
this kind, which will keep in good condition thirty head of cattle, half as many mules 
when not at work, and some hogs. 

NATIVE HAY GRASSES. 

In this section crab grass is cut very extensively, being reported 
from nearly every county where any attention at all is given to hay. 
Crow-foot, as a crop grass, is chiefly couflned to Georgia. Some of the 
coarse swamp grasses are cut to a considerable extent in certain local- 
cities. 

CULTIVATED GRASSES. 

Over one-half of the reports from this section state that no attempts 
have been made to cultivate grass for hay. They rely entirely upon 
the volunteer grasses, the principal one being crab, which some con- 
sider to be superior to the so-called cultivated grasses. 

The chief reasons given in favor of crab grass as a pasture grass and 
for hay are that it is indigenous, and therefore well adapted to with- 
stand the effects of the climate ; that the ground has only to be smoothed 
after the corn is "laid by," and it comes voluntarily; tbat it uever fails, 
and does well on poor aud sandy soil. 

In the remaining couuties more or less introduced grasses have been 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 25 

cut for hay, consistiug liriiicipally of herds grass (red top), the clovers, 
timothy, and orchard grass in the order named. Bermuda grass is 
reported to be cut for hay to a greater extent than any other, except 
the crab grass. The millets are cultivated for hay, and are deserving 
of more attention, for, being annuals, tbey can be grown successfully 
in all parts of the South. In Louisiana the cow-pea is considered one 
of the best forage crops, and its cultivation is extending. In the Eed 
Eiver district sorghum of various kinds is largely raised for food. 

JOHXSOX GRASS. 

Johnson grass is steadily growing in favor and its cultivation extend- 
ing. It is being introduced on the low, wet prairie lands of Texas, and 
the reports are quite favorable. It is essentially a hay grass, and may 
be cut three or four times a year. It should always be cut before the 
seed stalks run up, else it will be too coarse. It is even more difficult 
to exterminate when once well set than Bermuda, hence should not be 
allowed to seed. The best way to eradicate it is by frequent plowings 
in July and August, ex})osing the roots as much as possible to the sun. 
It will not bear tramping. 

Both this grass and Bermuda are regarded as a great blessing, or as 
an unmitigated evil, according to the standpoint from which they are 
viewed. The exclusive cotton-planter is apt to look upon them with 
unabated hostility, while those who are begiuniug to diversify their 
<3rops look upon these and other grasses as a great boon. 

In these States hay should be secured eaily enough in the season to 
allow the meadows to get a good start before the summer drought sets 
in, so that the roots may have a good protection during this trying 
period. Meadows should not be pastured until the fall rains set in, 
and then only lightly, and never when the ground is soft from much 
rain. Care should be taken not to pasture too late in the spring, 
thereby preventing the grass from growing tall enough to cut before 
the heat of summer. According to the reports, the farmers are accus- 
tomed very generally to pasture too closely, which causes great injury, 
if not destruction, to the grass. 

PERMANENT PASTURE. 

For a permanent pasture grass the Texas blue grass {Poa arachni- 
fera) promises to be one of the very best grasses yet brought to the 
attention of the South. It is a strong, deep-rooted grass, with an 
abundance of foliage, and seems to possess all of the characteristics 
necessary for a grass to be successful in most parts of the South. It 
grows in woods or open prairie, and thrives upon a variety' of soils, 
poor as well as rich, but has not, so far as reported, been tried upon a 
dry, sandy soil. This grass seems worthy of earnest consideration by 



26 THE AGRICULTURA.L GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



all interested. As it is figured and so fully described in another part 
of tlie report more need not be said here. 

The Texas blue grass dies down during the heat of summer and 
springs up with the first fall rains and lasts till summer again. Ber- 
muda comes in early spring and lasts till frost comes, thus being a 
summer i^asture grass. 

WINTER PASTURE. 

From several places, especially in Georgia and Alabama, requests 
come for a grass that will make good winter pasture, and if i^ossible 
one that will succeed ui^on weak, sandy soil. The cultivated grasses 
best adapted for winter pasture at the South are the tall meadow oat 
grass (Arrhen either um avenaceum), which will thrive on more sandy soil 
than most of the cultivated grasses (though it prefers a rich upland), 
and will jield more green food in winter than any other grass. 

Orchard grass {BactyUs glomerata) is next in value. It does well in 
orchards and thinned woods, and will do well on any rich, dry soil. 
After being cut or eaten down by stock it springs up again with great 
rapidity, thus rendering it of peculiar value as a i^asture grass. Ex- 
periment demonstrates that these grasses will thrive and do well in 
the northern and central counties of the Gulf States, an d ought to suc- 
ceed in all sections, except, perhaps, on a very dry, sandy soil. These 
two grasses are thought to endure the heat and drought better than 
other cultivated grasses. Italian rye grass {Lolium Italicum) is one of 
the very best grasses for this section. By being sown and harrowed in 
at the first fall rains it will be ready for i3asture by midwinter, and will 
afford a rich pasturage during the latter part of winter and spring, and 
can then be plowed under for the following crop, thus enriching the land 
as well as furnishing abundant winter feed. Bj^ only pasturing very 
lightly a crop of hay can be cut and the stubble turned under for a 
following wheat or other grain crop. • The attention cannot be too 
strongly called to this useful grass. Wild rye grass {Elymus) and wild 
meadow barley {Rordeum ijratense)^ also the common cultivated rye and 
barley, make excellent pasture. 

BERMUDA GRASS. 

Bermuda grass has of late attracted more than usual attention. It 
has been referred to and discussed by so many of the correspondents 
that an idea of the estimation in which it is held cannot be better 
given than by making a few extracts from their letters. 

Mr. Hawkins, of Barbour County, Alabama, says that he is ver^^ 
certain now, and has been for years, that the great want of the South 
is a grass with which the tired lands may be seeded, and some return 
had while the land is being recuperated. Bermuda, he says, is the 
grass to do this if it seeded, and could be easily destro^'ed when the 
land is wanted for cultivation. These difficulties, he says, operate suf- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 27 



ficiently to almost exclude it from the tillable land. A correspondent 
from Mississippi says : 

Bermuda is the grass for this country, resisting both the drought of summer and 
the frost of >yinter, and affording a richer " pasturage than any other grass. With 
this for pasture and the Johnson grass {Sorghum halapense) for hay, stock-raising 
will be more profitable than cotton. 

Georgia has taken the]lead in introducing Bermuda grass. In the 
central part of the State it is found in every county, and is steadily 
growing in favor. The report of the State board of agriculture for 1881 
says : 

The hay crop of Georgia has been unusually tine in 1881. The clovers and cul- 
tivated grasses made heavy crops before the summer's drought commenced. Large 
harvests of Bermuda hay were realized in some of the counties of Middle Georgia, 
where this valuable grass in being more highly appreciated every year. It makes a 
hay inferior to none, with the advantage of being permanent when once well set. 
Quite a number of farmers now realize a better income from lands set in Bermuda 
than they did from the same when in cotton. 

Another correspondent says : 

Berrau^la, beyoud all doubt, is the best grass for pasture, but for hay we need other 
grasses, and I am satisfied that Johnson grass is the one for that purpose. These 
two grasses have the power to make this section a great stock country. 

Such exi^ressions as this frequently occur in the reports: "Bermuda 
is the best, but the farmers are afraid of it." 

Mr. F. Seip, of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, says: 

Of all the usual cultivated grasses none can compare in general usefulness to the 
Bermuda. It is invaluable as a pasture grass for all kinds of stock, furnishing, 
through nearly the entire year, and even in winter, under some circumstances, an 
extraordinary amount of food. For hay purposes it cannot be surpassed. Under 
favorable circumstances it will yield more to the acre than any other known grass^ 
with the exception possibly of lucern {Medicago saliva) and Johnson grass, the latter 
being too coarse to make superior hay. 

Again Mr. Seip says of Bermuda : 

It can only be recommended for permanent pastures or meadows, as it if. very diffi- 
cult to eradicate, but still it is practicable to remove it. The best method, I think, 
is summer plowing repeated frequently, followed by oats in the fall and winter, and 
after the oat crop by a heavy crop of pease. If this is well done there will be no 
trouble in making a crop of corn or cotton the following year. 

- Colonel Lane, in " Forage Plants of the South," says, in reference to 
destroying Bermuda : 

Upoii ordinary upland I have found no difficulty in destroying it by close cultiva- 
tion in cotton for two years. It requires a few extra plowings to get the sod thor- 
oughly broken to pieces. The breaking should be done with a small plow first and a 
harrow run over it once or twice in winter or early spring. Take advantage of the 
dry hot months of summer to have the grass that may be found alive plowed and hoed, 
and exposed as much as possible to the sun. In ordinary seasons so much of the grass 
will be killed the first year that but little interference with the next crop need be 
apprehended. 

i 



28 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Bermuda is essentially a Southern summer-pasture grass, and as such 
possesses sui^erior qualities. It will thrive upon poor soil and stand 
the heat and drought of summer. It is nutritious, and is eaten by all 
kinds of stock. It is permanent when once well set, provided it is pas- 
tured ; otherwise, the broom sedge and other grasses will run it out. 
It requires tramping to flourish. The objections it encountered during 
the first years of its introduction have gradually given way, as the 
farmers have seen more of it and have become better acquainted with 
its nature and habits. To make hay it requires a rich soil — a soil rich 
enough to produce good crops of timothy and the more valuable grasses. 
It is an ameliorating crop. A field kept in Bermuda a few years will be- 
come so enriched that should it be wanted for cultivation the increased 
crops will more than pay for the extra labor and expense required the 
first year on account of the sod. 

Often in the reports a request is made for a grass that will do well 
on their exhausted lands and yield some return while they are being re- 
cuperated. Lands naturally fertile, but depleted by cropping, if not 
^' turned out in commons," can be recuperated by proper management 
through the agency of ameliorating crops, the particular ones* to be 
used varying with the different conditions of location, nature of soil, 
&c., and cannot be entered into minutely here, but which the intelligent 
cultivator will soon learn to determine. 

Immediate and constant returns, as some ask for, should not be ex- 
pected from a soil already exhausted. But in a short time, by generous 
treatment, they can be brought to a condition to once more reward the 
toiler for his labor, and will prove in the end to be much more econom- 
ical than to "turn the fields out" and wait thirty or forty years for the 
slow process of natural recuperation, expending meantime ones ener- 
gies in clearing and bringing into cultivation new tracts, to be in turn 
abandoned and turned out." 

Some ask for a grass that will do well upon a soil naturally poor or 
barren. Such a soil will not yield anything without fertilizing except 
a few worthless weeds or some of the coarser plants. G-ood grasses 
will not grow on land that will not produce medium crops of grain. By 
using fertilizers and turning under green crops the productiveness can 
be increased so as to give fair returns, and then by suitable rotation 
the land can be continuously improved. 

EXPERIMENTS. 

In nearly one-half of the counties, according to the reports, no ex- 
periments introducing new grasses have been made, while in many of 
the other counties they have been made only on a small scale, and were 
too often abandoned as failures before they had been fully tested. Fail- 
ures frequently result from not fully understanding the nature and re- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 29 



quirements of the grasses, especially during the early stages of their 
growth. 

Mr. J. J. Barehiy, of Wheeler, Ala., says: 

I have experimented on my place with most of the cultivated grasses, and find 
they do well if protected from the tramping and depredations of stock for one season. 
* * * I am confident of their success and feel that their introduction into this 
portion of the South will be of incalculable benefit to the country and people, and 
especially attractive to the immigrant, whose first question is, ''Do grasses grow in 
your State ? " 

Another says that orchard grass, tall meadow oat grass, and Johnson 
grass will do well if properly attended to and the ground suitably pre- 
pared. Mr. Hawkins says that his experiments show that any of the 
grasses will do well upon rich loam, or on moist, stiff land, or on moist^ 
sandy land. Mr. D. P. Hurley, of Pike County says : 

I would add, on the important subject of grasses, that their cultivation is sadly 
neglected, not because the climate is hostile or the soil unadapted, nor because they 
cannot be successfully cultivated, but for the reason that diversified agriculture is 
practically disfavored. 

Mr. P. M. Morehouse sent from Texas a sample of Kentucky blue 
grass, ^rown on the open prairie, without shade or extra care after well 
set. It has withstood the heat and drought of summer for three years 
extremely well. Yet there are large tracts of country, often embracing 
counties, where a meadow of grass is not to be found. Mr. Hawkins 
says that he does not know of a meadow of cultivated grass in South- 
eastern Alabama. Similar statements come from Louisiana. This un- 
favorable condition has arisen from several influences which can only 
be referred to here. Among them may be mentioned the custom of 
exclusive cotton planting which has been so sedulously followed for so 
many years, leaving but little time for anything else ; also the habit 
of "turning out" fields when depleted instead of recuperating them 
by ameliorating crops. 

Another is the reluctance and hesitation which persons naturally feel 
about changing old-established ways for untried methods, without the 
encouragement and aid of example to guide them in their new enter- 
prise. The want of seed has been quite an impediment to increased 
attention being given to the grass crops. The correspondents say that 
a liberal distribution of grass seed would relieve a deeply-felt need and 
do much toward determining the important question of extending grass 
culture. 

Fifth inquiry. " Please suggest any grasses that might be useful in 
your section." 

The replies to this request were somewhat limited, and often rather 
suggestive than definite. There are but few to be added to those al- 
ready mentioned. But for convenience, all of the grasses recommended 
for trial will be given here, together with such suggestions as the gen- 



30 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



era! tenor of the reports and correspondence, and information obtained 
elsewhere, would seem to warrant. They recommend as follows : 

For Washington Territory and Oregon. — Italian rye grass, tall meadow 
oat grass, Kentucky blue grass, Texas mesquite, and Bermuda. 

For California. — Timothy, large red clover, the millets, orchard grass, 
Italian rye grass, white clov^er, Guinea grass {Panicum jumentorum) 
Bermuda, alfalfa, and Johnson grass. 

For Idaho and Montana. — All the grasses for bottom lands, and al- 
falfa for bench lands." 

For Texas. — Alfalfa, Bermuda, timothy, the clovers, orchard grass, 
Johnson grass, and the millets in the order named. 

For Georgia. — Kentucky blue grass, orchard grass, herds grass 
(called red top in New England), timothy, the clovers, and alfalfa, in 
the order named. 

For Florida.-~BQvm\x^i\^ alfalfa, Guinea grass {Fanicum jumentorum)^ 
orchard grass, Johnson grass, and clover. 

For Alabama. — Orchard grass, Kentucky blue grass, timothy, herds 
grass (red top), Johnson grass, alfalfa, and California clover. 

For Mississippi. — Orchard grass, herds grass (red top), the clovers, 
Kentucky blue grass, and the millets. 

For Louisiana. — Kentucky blue grass, orchard grass, Bermuda, tim- 
othy, herds grass (red top), the clovers, and alfalfa. 

The above are the principal forage plants enumerated for trial. It 
will be observed that in some instances instead of suggesting new 
grasses for trial those are named which have already been so fully tried 
that there is no question about their success. 

It appears from the reports and correspondence that the principal 
need of Washington Territory and Oregon is a pasture grass for the 
dry hills in place of the nearl}^ extinct bunch grass ; some are desirous 
that Bermuda and Texas mesquite be tried. The latter has already 
been reported as successful in several counties. There is some uncer- 
tainty concerning what grass is referred to, as several go under the name 
of mesquite. It is probable that some mean the Buchloe dactyloides, the 
buffalo grass of the plains, a valuable pasture grass and similar in habit 
to Bermuda. In Texas it is called mesquite. The suggestion of these 
correspondents appear worthy of attention. 

In Southern California some wish Bermuda to be tried for their pas- 
ture land which cannot be plowed, and where the bur-clover, &c., is 
being tramped out. They also think that the Guinea grass {Panicum 
jumentorum) might possibly succeed. 

The suggessions from Florida were from only a few counties ; the 
general impression seems to be that crab grass and other native grasses 
are superior to the so-called cultivated ones. Some think that a grass 
will have to be obtained from Cuba or the tropics to be suited to the 
climatic conditions existing there. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 31 



DESORIPTIOK OF GRASSES. 

Paspalum, Linu. 

Flowers in narrow, mostly liuear, spikes, of which there may be one, 
or several crowded at the summit of the stem, or they may be more or 
less numerous, and arranged along the general peduncle. The spike- 
lets are mostly obtuse and arranged in one or two rows on each side of 
the generally elevated crest or midrib of the flattened rhachis. The 
spikelets contain each one perfect Ho wer inclosed within two outer mem- 
branaceous glumes 5 rarely one of the outer glumes muoh reduced or 
wanting. The glume of the perfect flower, called the flowering glume, 
is more or less convex or rounded on the back, usually thick and indu- 
rated, and incloses the shorter palet, which is of similar texture with 
tlie three stamens and two distinct iflumose styles. 

This genus has its range principally in the Southern States. They 
are mostly perennials, varying much in form and habit. Some are tall 
and erect, some decumbent or spreading, and others have the habit of 
sending out prostrate runners which take root at short intervals and 
thus spread and form dense patches. Several species may often be 
found in the same field. Professor Phares, of the Agricultural and Me- 
chanical College of Mississippi, says : 

They are all succulent, tender, nutritious, hardj^ thrifty, and relished by all grass- 
eating animals. They fill the soil with a matting of roots and cover the surface densely 
- with luxuriant foliage from early spring till autumnal frosts. 

Paspalum laeye. (Smooth paspalum.) 

This species grows from 2 to 4 feet high. The stem and leaves 
are smooth or smoothish, the lower leaves long and firm, the upper ones 
shorter and distant. Near the top of the culm are three to five slender 
spreading spikes, each from 2 to 3 inches long and 1 to 2 inches distant. 
There are a few longish hairs at the base of the spikes where they sepa- 
rate from the stem. The spikelets, or what becomes the seed, are oval, 
smooth, about one-tenth of an inch long, close together in two rows, 
which are wider than the narrow, slightly wavy rhachis. 

Professor Phares (above quoted) says he has a neighbor who has been 
feeding this grass for twenty-five years ; and for many years has had a 
meadow of it from which without ever having seeded, he annually mows 
about 2 tons of hay per acre. It should be cut before the seeds get 
ripe enough to fail off. (Plate 1.) 

Paspalum dilitatum. (Hairy-flowered paspalum.) 

This species is quite similar to the preceding, but taller and stouter. 
The culms are from a thick perennial rootstock, erect, 3 to 5 feet high, 
smooth, and with three to five leaves from as many smooth, purplish 
joints. The leaves at the base of the culm are numerous, about a foot 



32 THE AGRICULTUKAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



long and one-tliird to one-half an inch wide. They are smooth on both 
sides and roughish on the margins. The raceme is from 5 to 8 inches 
long, composed of from five to ten somewhat spreading spikes, which 
are 3 inches or more in length, and 1 or 2 inches apart on the rather 
slender axis, the upper ones are gradually shoj'ter, all with a few long 
hairs at the base. The spikelets are closely arranged in four rows, two 
on each side of the narrow and nearly straight axis, in alternate pairs. 
They are about one and a half lines long, ovate, acutely pointed, crowded 
and overlapping each other, comi)ressed, and the margins clothed with 
silky hairs. The two outer or empty glumes are ovate, acute, five- 
nerved, nearly smooth, except the fringe of tliin white hairs on the mar- 
gin. The flowering glume is thick and firm, and very delicately punc- 
tate under a magnifier. The palet fits inside the margin of the flower- 
ing glume and inclosing the stamens and styles. This species has been 
found in Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. It is 
also a South Americau species. It has been called Paspalum ovatuniy 
but the name first given is the proper one. It was described in the 
Agricultural Eeport for 1880, and has since then been noticed and ex- 
perimented with by several persons. (Plate 2.) 

Several other species of the same general appearance and habit occur , 
in the Southern States, among which may be named Paspalum lenfi- 
ferum^ P. Floridanum^ and P. pUcatulum. Quite recently another spe- 
cies has been brought to our notice by Mr. H. B. Eichards, of La Grrange, 
Tex. It has been called Paspalum remotum, and Mr. Eichards states 
that it roots at every joint and sends up shoots like a layered grape- 
vine; it remains green all winter, audit is almost impossible to destroy 
it by cultivation. Plowing spreads it, as every stem broken off takes 
root again. It can only be killed by digging out every particle and ex- 
X)osing it to the hot sun. All soils seem to be equally' acceptable to it; 
it grows as well in the shade as in the sunshine. Drought does not 
seeui to affect it. Stock like it both in winter and summer. A single 
seed or joint has been known to spread over an area of five or six feet 
in diameter in a single season, with a perfect mat of grass firmly rooted 
all over. It evidently will bear close pasturage and hard tramping. 
The difficulty of eradicating it will be an objection to it in the opinion 
of some, but where it is desirable to make a permanent pasture this fea- 
ture would seem to be an advantage. More extended observation and 
experiment with this grass is higlily desirable. 

Another species of Paspalum^ having the same creeping habit, has 
been observed in several of the Southern States. It is the PaspaJum 
platycaule. It is a grass of lower growth and smaller size than the pre. 
ceding. It occurs in all the Gulf States, as well as in the West Indies and 
in South America. Mr. Benjamin Brodnax, of Morehouse Parish, Lou- 
isiana, has given a very full account of its habits in a Southern agricult- 
ural paper. He says the mode of growth is flat to the ground, taking 
root at every joint and spreading in every direction. It effectually kills 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 33 



out every other grass or weed, as it forms a thick sod and is evergreen. 
It looks like Bermuda grass and is equally prolific, but it possesses one 
trait that Bermuda grass does not, that is, it is easily got rid of. It 
is only necessary to plow shallow, turn the sod over, and in a week har- 
row and your grass is gone. All grazing animals eat it in preference to 
any other except Bermuda grass. It grows on a great variety of soil, 
but thrives best in good soil. Some of the joints send up culms or stalks 
which are very fine and wirj^, with a few slender seed-bearing spikes at 
the summit. The runners extend out several feet, taking root at all the 
joints, which are usually only 1 or 2 inches apart. It grows too close to 
the ground and is too short for a good grass for hay, but for grazing it 
has many good properties. Like i he preceding species, it should receive 
attention from farmers, with careful experiments. 

Fnwalum setaceum is a species which is widely spread both in the 
i^orthi'rn and Southern States. It grows usually to 2 feet high in 
dry, sandy, or gravelly soil, some forms having smooth and others very 
heavy leaves. It seems to have very little practical value. (Plate 3.) 

DiGITARIA. 

This genus is usually considered as a section of the genus Paiiicum^ 
but it will be most convenient here to retain the old name. It serves to 
connect Paspalum and Fanicim^ and in the structure of the flowers dif- 
fers from Paspalum very little except in commonly having an additional 
empty glume to the si)ikelets. This glume in sometimes very small and 
occasionally absent. The flowers or spikelets are arranged like those of 
Paspalum on one side of a narrow flattened axis or spike, and there are 
several spikes crowded together at or near the summit of the culm. 

Digit ARIA sanguinale {Panicum sanguinale). Crab grass. 

This is an annual grass, which, although a native of the Old World, 
has become spread over most j^arts of this country, and, indeed, over 
most tropical countries of the globe. It occurs in cultivated and waste 
grounds, and grows very rapidly during the hot summer months. The 
culms usually rise to the height of 2 or 3 feet, and at the summit have 
from three to six slender flower spikes, which are from I to 6 inches 
long. The culms are bent at the lower joints, where they frequently 
take root. This grass is well known to farmers and planters in the 
South under the name of crab grass. Professor Killebrew, Tennessee, 
says : 

It is a fine pasture grass, although it has but few base leaves aud forms uo sward, 
yet it sends out numerous stems or brauches at the base. It serves a most useful 
purpose in stock husbandry. It fills all our corn-fields, and many persons pull it out, 
which is a tedious process. It makes a sweet hay, and horses are exceedingly fond 
of it, leaving the best hay to eat it. 

Professor Phares, Mississippi, says that the corn aud cotton fields 
are often so overrun with it that the hay which might be secured would 
2218 GR 3 



34 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

be more valuable than the original crop. It is some times mowed from 
between the rows, sometimes cut across the ridges with the corn. 

Any good piece of ground that lias had this grass raatured on it the preceding 
year may be plowed and harrowed smoothly and then rolled- in May, and it will soon 
he covered with a rich growth. If the season is favorable two mowings should be 
made. 

Digitaria villosa is a very similar species of the Southern States, with 
a perennial, creeping rootstock, the stem decumbent and bent below at 
the hairy joints. The leaves with their sheaths are very hairy. The 
external glume of the tlower is scarcely one-fourth as large as the up- 
per ones. It probably is frequently confounded with the preceding, 
and has the same qualities. (Plate 4.) 

Panioum. (Panic grass.) 

The botanical character of this genus are as follows: Flowers in 
spikes, racemes, or panicles. The spikelets consist of one perfect 
flower (the upper or terminal one in the spikelet), and usually a second 
male or rudimentary one below it. Outer empty glumes two, one of 
which is smaller than the other, often very small, rarely absent. The 
glume of the perfect flo wer and its palet are usually of a coriaceous or 
leathery texture, and obtuse or obtusish. The grasses belonging to 
this genus are extremely numerous, and of widely different general 
appearance. We have about fifty native si^ecies, most of which have 
little practical value except as adding more or less to the wild forage 
of our woods and fields. But some species, both native and foreign, 
are of the highest agricultural value. We shall notice a few of those 
which seem best adapted to cultivation in this country. 

Panicum jumentorum. (Guinea grass.) 

A large, vigorous, perennial grass, attaining in good soil a height of 
from 6 to 10 feet, the leaves are 1 to 2 feet long, and frequently an inch 
or more wide, rough on the edges, and with a few scattered hairs on 
the surface ; the sheath is long and nearly smooth, except near the 
joints, which are soft-hairy. The panicle is from I to IJ feet long and 
difl'usely branched, the upper branches single and 3 to 4 inches long, 
the lower ones two to five together and 6 to 10 inches long the flowers 
are thinly scattered along the rather slender branches nearly the whole 
length on slender, rather short pedicels. The spikelets aie about IJ 
lines long, smooth and rather acutel3' pointed; the lowest glume is 
about one-third the length of the spikelet; the second glume is slightly 
longer than the- perfect flower and five to seven nerves. The lower 
flower is staminate or male only, the glume and palet thin, the upper 
flower perfect, much thicker, and finely wrinkled transversely. 

This grass is a native of Africa, but has been introduced into many 
troi)ical countries, and in the West Indies is extensively cultivated for 
pasturage. It has been introduced in Florida, but is yet very little 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 35 



known in tlie Southern States. - It has been confounded with the John- 
son grass., which is very different, and is botanically Sorghum hakqyense. 
It (the Panicum jumentorum) seldom matures seed in this country and 
may be propagated by dividing the roots or by obtaining the seed from 
foreign countries. The bCvSt time to set out the roots is in IMarch and 
April. If so treated it is said that they will be ready for the first mow- 
ing by the last of May, and that with favorable weather mowing may 
be repeated about every six weeks until frost occurs. The roots are 
tender and easily killed by frost, and should therefore be protected by 
mulching during the winter. It is too tender to be cultivated except 
in the very warmest portions of our country. An analysis made at the 
Department of Agriculture in 1878 shows it to be very rich in nutritive 
materials^ (Plate 5.) 

Panicum barbinode. (Para grass P. molle Swz. in Annual Eeport, 

1883.) 

This is quite similar in general appearance to the preceding, but has 
smaller leaves, and a shorter, less spreading panicle, with shorter, more 
densely-flowered branches. The spikelets are closer together and very 
short-pediceled, the lowest glume is about one-fourth as long as the 
spikelet. It is said to be a native of Africa. It has been introduced into 
South America, and in Brazil is largely cultivated for i)asturage, and 
is said to be unequaled for the quantity and quality of the feed which 
it produces. Dr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, Ala., states that it has been 
some years introduced in that vicinity, and that it is extremely pro- 
ductive and valuable. It has also been introduced in Florida. (Plate 
6.) 

Panicum miliaceum. (Millet grass.) 

This annual species grows 2 to 3 feet high, with a large, open nod- 
ding panicle of flowers. The stem is thick and branching above, the 
nodes or joints swollen, the leaves, and especially the sheaths, are soft 
hairy. The leaves are numerous and about 6 inches long. The flowers 
and seeds are at the ends of the slender pedicils, and when ripe become 
yellow in color. It is a native of Asia, where it has been cultivated 
for ages, and in many parts is an imi)ortant article in the food supply 
of the natives. It is also cultivated in Egypt, Turkey, and Southern 
Europe. It has been cultivated to a limited extent in this country for 
forage, and will thrive and ripen in the Northern as well as the Southern 
States. 

Mr. Charles L. Flint says : 

Millet is one of the best crops we have for cnttiug and feeding green for soiling 
purposes, since its yield is large, its luxuriant leaves juicy and tender, and much rel- 
ished by milch cows and other stock. The seed is rich in nutritive qualities, but it is 
very seldom ground or used for flour, though it is said to exceed all other kinds of meal 
or tlour in nutritive elements. An acre well cultivated will yield from CO to 70 bushels 
of seed. Cut in the blossom, as it should be for feeding to cattle, the seed is compar- 
atively valueless. If allowed to ripen its seed, the stalk is no more nutritious, proba- 
bly, than oat straw. 



36 THE AGRICULTORAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Of the native species of Pauicum we will notice a fe-w : 

Patshcum Texanum. (Texas millet.) 

This grass is a native of Texas, and was first described and named 
by Prof. S. B. Buckley in 1866. It is an annual, growing from 2 to 4 
feet high, at first erect, then becoming decumbent and widely spread- 
ing, sparingly branched, very leafy, the sheaths and leaves soft hairy, 
the margin of the leaves rough, the blade of the leaf 6 to 8 inches long, 
and one-half to 1 inch wide, the upper leaves reaching to the base of the 
panicle, or nearlj^ so ; the panicle is 6 to 8 inches long, strict or close, 
the branches alternate, erect, simple, 3 to 4 inches long, with some- 
what scattered sessile spikelets. The branches of the panicle are rough, 
the pedicels with scattered hairs, especially near the flowers ; the spike- 
lets are oblong, somewhat pointed, 2 to 2J lines long, sparsely hairy; 
the lower glume is half or two-thirds the length of the upper one, acute, 
five-nerved, the lateral nerves uniting with the mid-nerve below the 
apex, the upper empty glume prominently five to seven nerved, pointed j 
the flowering glume of the sterile flower is five to seven nerved, its 
palet thin and transi^arent, as long as the glume, the perfect flower 
ovate or oblong-ovate, acutish, transversely wrinkled with fine reticu- 
lated lines. 

It is a grass of rapid, vigorous growth, many stalks proceeding from 
the same root, growing very close and thick at the base, succulent, and 
yielding a large amount of forage. 

Mr. Pryor Lea, of Goliad, Tex., has had it in cultivation a number 
of years, and states as follows : 

I consider it far superior to any grass that I ever saw for liay. It is a mucli more 
certain crop than millet, and cultivated with less labor, and all kinds of stock pre- 
fer it. In this region it is regarded, in the condition of well-cured hay, as more nu- 
tritious than any other grass. It grows only in cultivated ground ; it prospers best 
in the warmest season of the year ; its luxurious growth subdues other grasses and 
some weeds, with the result of leaving the ground in an ameliorated condition. 

Mr. H. W. Kavenel, of Aiken, S. C, says he has been cultivating 
Panicum Texanum for several years. It is hardy and naturalized ther e, 
freely seeding and propagating itself, coming up in his grounds with 
other grasses, and much larger and better than any of them for hay 
and forage. 

The experimeuts of Professor Phares and others, in Mississippi, sub- 
stantially confirm the statements of Mr. Lea, although it is said that it 
will hardly hold its own against the common crab grass {Digitaria 
sanguinale). It has been called concho grass in some parts; in others 
Colorado bottom grass. It is stated that on the Colorado bottoms, in 
Texas, many of the farmers have devoted their farms entirely to its 
production, finding it more profitable than corn or cotton. It is cut 
twice and sometimes three tiines in a year, yielding about one and a 
half tons per acre at each cutting. (Plate 7.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 37 

Panicum PEOLIFERUM. 

This specie« has a wide range of growth, beiug found in the ]N"orth- 
ern and Western as well as the Southern States, growing late in the 
season, generally in low waste grounds. The stems are flattened, erect- 
ish, or decumbent, spreading and rooting at the lower joints. It is a 
useful grass as helping out the supply of wild fodder, but does not pre- 
sent particular promise for cultivation. But in the Southern States, 
from South Carolina westward, there occurs a variety of this grass, 
called Panicum proUferumj var. geniculatum^ or sprouting crab grass. 

It is an annual, growing in low moist ground. The stems are at first 
erect, then becoming decumbent and spreading, frequently attaining a 
length of 6 or 7 feet, bent and rooting at the lower joints. It has much 
the same habit as the Faniciim texamim, but the stems are more flat- 
tened and smoother 5 the leaves are smoother and longer. The stems 
are sometimes nearly an inch thick at the base and very succulent. 
The leaves are sometimes 2 feet long and half to three-fourths of an 
inch wide. The lower joints give out numerous branches, which de- 
velop flowering panicles that are partly inclosed in the large leaf- 
sheaths. The main stem is also terminated by a diffuse planicle some- 
times 2 feet long. Large specimens have a handsome appearance. 
The spikelets are pale green, rarely purplish, about one line long. The 
neutral flower is a little longer than the perfect one, the lower empty 
glume broad and short, the upper acute and strongly seven-nerved. 
Mr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, says of it : 

In damp grassy places it prefers rich ground throughout the coast region. It com- 
mences to vegetate vigorously in the hottest part of the summer, throwing out nu- 
merous shoots from the joints, forming large-branched bushes. The foliage is rich 
and tender, and the succulent, thick stems are sweet and juicy. After cutting, it 
throws out numerous sprouts from the lower joints, which grow rapidly, so as to al- 
low repeated cuttings until frost. It is through all stages of its growth much relished 
by horses and cattle. • 

(Plate 8.) 

Panicum agrostoides. (Eed-top Panicum.) 

This is a perennial grass, commonly growing in large clumps in wet 
meadows or on the muddy margins of lakes and rivers. It grows 4 to 
6 feet high, is erect in habit, and develops its reddish panicles from 
several of the joints as well as at the apex. The stem is somewhat flat- 
tened and very smooth, as are the sheaths; the leaves are 1 to 2 feet 
long, about half an inch wide, and somewhat rough on the margins and 
midrib. The terminal panicle is 6 to 12 inches long, at first somewhat 
close, but becoming quite open and diffuse. The lateral panicles are 
shorter and partly inclosed by the sheath at the base. The branches 
of the panicle are mostly 1 or 2 inches long, and rather densely 
flowered nearly to the base. The spikelets are a little more than a line 
long, on very short pedicels, mostly racemose on one side of the branches, 
oblong, acute, the lower empty glume ovate, acute, half as long as the 



38 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



upper one, which is rather long-pointed and five-nerved; the lower or 
sterile flower is a little shorter than the longer glume and a little shorter 
than the perfect flower, which is oblong, obtuse, and under a lens shows 
a few beards at the apex. This grass produces a large amount of foli- 
age which makes fair hay if cut before flowering time; if left later it 
contains too many wiry stalks. It may be utilized as a hay crop in low 
grounds, but it is doubtful if it can be made i)roductive on dry, tillable 
laud. (Plate 9.) 

Panicum ANOEPS. (Two edged Panic grass.) 

A perennial grass, when well developed resembling the preceding, 
but of a smaller, lighter growth, generally found in moist clay soil. It 
has a flattish erect stem, 2 to 3 feet high, with smooth leaves a foot or 
more long, of a bluish-green color, and mostlj- near the base of the stem. 
The rhizoma, or root-stock, is thick, scaly, and creeping near the surface 
of the ground. The panicle is 6 to 12 inches long, with short branches 
near the top, the lateral branches 3 to 6 inches long, rather distant, 
erect or somewhat spreading. Usually there are also several smaller 
lateral panicles from the upper joints of the culm. The spikelets are 
about a line and a half long, a little longer than those of Panicum 
agrostoides, oblong, lanceolate, a little curved, and sessile, or on very 
short pedicels. The lower emi^t}' glume is broadly ovate, and about half 
as long as the five to seven nerved upper one. The lower glume of the 
sterile flower is as long as the upper empty glume and much like it in 
texture, while the palet is thin, obtuse, and much shorter. The perfect 
flower is one third sTiorter than the upper empty glume, oblong; the 
flowering glume and its palet, as in most species of Fanicum^ is thick 
and hard in texture. This cannot be considered a valuable grass, but 
it frequently occurs in neglected and poor land in sufficient quantity to 
afford considerable grazing for stock. It makes its growth late in the 
season, usually reaching the flowering stage in August. Dr. Mohr, of 
Mobile, remarks that it is not much relished by stock, being rather 
harsh and dry. 

Professor Phares says it forms strongl3"-rooted spreading clumps, often 
completely carpeting the ground with very pretty, glossy, light-green 
foliage. (Plate 10.) 

Panicum crus-galli. (Barn-yard grass.) 

This is an annual grass, with thick, stout, erect, or procumbent culms, 
usually 2 to 4 feet high, and branching at the base. The leaves are 
long, sometimes 1 to l^feet, and half an inch to an inch wide, rough on the 
margins, the sheaths sometimes hairy, sometimes smooth, and the lower 
ones much thickened at the base. The panicle, like the entire plant, is 
variable in size, sometimes 3 inches, sometimes afoot or more long, lanceo- 
late in outline, and composed of a number of alternate, mostly simple, 
rough branches, or frequently the branches are glomerate and much 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 39 



subdivided. The panicle is, in diHeient varieties, narrow and with few 
short, simple branches, or large and dense with long and spreading 
branches. The glumes are also variable, being sometimes awnless and 
sometimes provided with long, rough awns or beards. These variable 
features have been indicated by special names, as variety mutica, the 
form without beards; var. hispida, a form with rough, hairy-leaf sheaths ; 
variety echinata, a form with long, rough awns to the glumes. The 
spikelets are densely crowded on the spikes or branches of the panicle. 
The glumes are usually more or less rough, with oppressed, stiff' hairs, 
the outer empty one very broad, with a very short point one-third as 
long as the pointed upper one, the glume of the sterile flower still longer 
and frequently having a long, strong awn sometimes an inch or more in 
length. The perfect flower is ovate, smooth, pointed, and cousins a 
large flattened orbicular seed. This grass is found in almost all parts 
of the world. It is frequently found in barn yards, and hence the com- 
mon name. 

In the Northern States it is esteemed as a rough, coarse weed ; in the 
South it is often utilized and considered a very useful grass. 
Dr. Charles Mohe, of Mobile, says of it : 

An annual, 2 to 3 feet Mgh, beariug its rougbly-awned flowers in dense, one-sided 
panicles, composed of numerous crowded spikes ; it grows luxuriantly, particularly 
in the lowlands of the coast ; is greedily eaten by horses and cattle, and makes a hay 
of good quality. It is justly regarded as an excellent grass, particularly before it 
ripens its seed, as in the latter stages of its growth the long and stiif awns of its 
spikes tend to make it somewhat unpalatable. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

In Louisiana, Mississippi, and some other States it is mowed annually. Some 
farmers assure me that they harvest four or five tons of hay per acre. It may be cut 
twice each season by making the first mowing as soon as it begins to bloom. I know 
no one who plants it ; but it annually reseeds the ground and requires no cultivation 
or other care, save protection from live stock and the labor of harvesting. Beiug a 
coarse grass, with long leaves and large succulent stems, it requires care to cure well. 
In one county in Mississippi hundreds of acres are annually mowed on single farms. 
Cows and horses are very fond of it, whether green or dry. Farmers who have tested 
it most thoroughly for many years prefer it to the best corn fodder. 

(Plate 11.) 

Panicum viRGATUM L. (Tall Panic grass ; Switch grass.) 

A tall perennial grass, 3 to 5 feet high, growing mostly in clumps in 
moist or even in dry sandy soil, very common on the sea-coast, and also 
in the interior to the base of the Rocky Mountains. The culms are 
erect, firm, and unbranched; leaves 1 to 2 feet long, flat, rough-mar- 
gined, otherwise smooth, one-third to one-half inch wide. The i)anicle 
is large and diffuse, rather pyramidal, from 6 inches to 2 feet long, the 
branches angular, rather verticillate, the lower in fives or more, decreas- 
ing above, flowering mosth^ near the extremities. The lower branches 
are frequently half as long as the panicle and much subdivided. The 



40 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



spikelets are usually short-stalkod, variable in size, but usually about 
two lines long, ovate, sharp-pointed, commonly purplish. The lower 
empty glume is from halt' to two-thirds as long as the upper, both are 
pointed, sometimes long pointed; the lower glume is three nerved, the 
upper one Hyq to seven-nerved j the lower flower is male, nearly as 
long as the upper glume, its glume five to seven-nerved and acute, its 
palet one-quarter shorter, thin, two-nerved. The perfect flower is 
shorter than the lower one, smooth, oblong, and obtuse. This is a good 
and prolific grass if cut when young when ripe it becomes harsh and 
unpalatable. It forms a constituent of the native grasses of the prai- 
ries, particularly in moist localities. (Plate 12.) 

Panicum divaricatum. (Cane-like Panicum.) 

A tropical and subtropical species found in our country only in Flor- 
ida and the Gulf States near the coast. It is a shrubby plant, the 
culms being woody and persistent, like the small kind of cane. Only 
the leaves and j^oung shoots are eaten by cattle. The larger stems are 
of the size of a goose quill. It is smooth and decumbent, with short, 
spreading branches. The leaves are lanceolate, 2 to 3 inches long by 
four to five lines wide, gradually pointed. The panicles terminate the 
branches, are 2 to 4 inches long, with comparatively short divergent 
branches and few flowers. The spikelets are obovate, tumid, about 
two lines long, smooth. In the districts where it grows this grass may 
be utilized, as an analysis of its composition gives a very good result. 
(Plate 13.) 

Panicum gibbum. 

A perennial species, growing in swamps and low wet ground in the 
Southern States, from Forth Carolina to Florida and to Texas. The 
stem is decumbent, branching, and rooting at the lower joints. The 
panicle is 3 to 5 inches long, and narrow from the erect, appressed 
branches. The spikelets are oblong or lance oblong, rather obtuse, al- 
though narrowed above. The lower glume is small, about one-fourth 
as long as the upper one, which is strongly eleven-nerved, swollen at 
the base, and twice as long as the smooth, fertile flower. The leaves 
are smooth or rarely somewhat hairy, half an inch broad and 6 to 8 
inches long. The whole plant is of a deep green color. The flowers 
drop off soon after flowering. This grass, if it occurs in abundance, 
would be of considerable value, as it furnishes a good deal of nutri- 
tious matter. (Plate 14.) ' 

Panicum obtusum. (Obtuse-flowered Panicum.) 

A perennial species of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. It has a 
strong, running root-stock, which at intervals sends up flowering culms, 
which are about 1^ to 2 feet high, very smooth, pale green, with nu- 
merous smooth, narrow, erect, stifl', long-pointed leaves, and a narrow 
linear panicle, 3 to 4 inches long, composed of about half a dozen 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 41 

short, alternate, sessile branches, the lowest about an inch in length, 
the upper very short, and all densely crowded with the sessile flowers. 
The two outer glumes are of nearly equal length, or the lower one 
rather the longer, which is different from the ordinary rule of the ge- 
nus. They are obtuse, five to seven-nerved, and fully as long as the 
male or sterile flower, which is also obtuse. The perfect flower is of 
equal length with the sterile one, very smooth, shining, delicately stri- 
ate longitudinally, and obtusish. Leafy runners, 2 to 3 feet long, are 
sent out form the base, which at intervals form thickened woolly knots 
or nodes which eventually take root. This grass will evidently have 
great endurance of drought, and is deserving of trial with reference 
to its agricultural value. 

Panicum capillare. (Old Witch grass ; Hair-stalked Panic grass.) 

An annual grass varying in height from 6 inches to 2 feet, often 
branching at the base. It has a large terminal panicle, which, when 
mature, is very diffuse, with long capillary branches. The leaves and 
sheaths are usually covered with long spreading hairs. It is very com- 
mon in cultivated grounds, making its growth late in the summer, and 
after maturity the tops break off and are blown about and accumulate 
in quantities in fence corners. There is a smoothish form growing in 
Texas and the Western Territories. The grass is generally rejected by 
cattle, especially the very hairj- forms. It is one of the most worthless 
kinds. (Plate 15.) 

There are maDy other species of Panicum which have some value as 
wild forage where they prevail, but they are generally scanty in foliage, 
thin in habit of growth, or otherwise unsuitable for cultivation. 

Setaeia. 

The structure of the flowers in this genus is the same as in Panicum j 
of which genus it is by some botanists considered only a section. It is 
characterized as follows. The spikelets collected into a cylindrical or 
elongated spike-like, or sometimes interrupted, panicle. Below the ar- 
ticulation of the spikelets are several (or one) bristles or stiff hairs, 
which are supposed to be abortive branchlets, and which are persistent 
after the fall of the spikelets. 

S:^taria Italic a. (Hungarian grass, Italian Millet, German Millet.) 

This grass is supposed to be a native of the East Indies, but it has 
been extensively introduced into most civilized countries. It has long 
been cultivated as a fodder grass both in Europe and in this country. 
It is an annual grass of strong rank growth, the culms erect, 2 to 3 feet 
high, with numerous long and broad leaves, and a terminal, spike-like, 
nodding panicle, 4 to 6 inches long, and often an inch or more in diam- 
eter. The panicle is composed of a great number of small closely- 
crowded branches, each of which consists of a small group of several 



42 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



clusters of spikelets, at the base of each of which there springs two or 
three bristles, sometimes short aod sometimes so long as to give the 
head a very bristly appearance. The bristles are roughened or barbed 
by numerous teeth-like processes on the margin, pointing towards the 
apex. The spikelets are about 1 line long ; the lower glume is about 
one-third as long as the upper one, which, with the glume of the sterile 
flower, is obtusish and about the length of the perfect flower. There is 
a great difference in the diflerent varieties and forms of this grass, so 
much so that some of them have been considered diflerent species, but 
the general opinion of botanists is that they are all varying forms of the 
same species, dependent upon the character of the soil, thickness of 
seeding, moisture or dryness, and time of sowing. It owes its value as 
a fodder plant to the abundance of its foliage and to the large quantity 
of seed produced. In some instances objection has been made to this 
grass on account of the bristles which surround the seed, and which 
have been said to penetrate the stomachs of cattle so as to cause inflam- 
ation and death. But it is plain that this opinion is not generally 
held, as the cultivation of the grass is widely extended and everywhere 
recommended. 

For forage it shonld be cut as soon as it blooms, wben of course, it is worth nothing 
for seed, but is most valuable for forage and exhausts the land much less. If left 
for the seed to mature they are very abundaut and rich feed, but the stems are worth- 
less while the soil is more damaged. The matured stems are very hard, indigestible 
and injurious, and the ripe seeds will founder more promptly than corn, aud some- 
times produce diabetes if mouldly and too freely used. If cut at the right stage the 
whole plant is a safe and very valuable forage. On good soil if the ground be moist 
it will be ready for mowing in sixty days from seeding and produce from two to four 
tons of hay per acre. It is folly to sow it on poor land. — Professor Phares. 

(Plate 16.) 

Setaria setosa. (Bristle grass. Fox tail.) 

A native species growing in New Mexico, Texas, and southward into 
Mexico and South America. It grows about 2 feet high. The stem and 
leaves are smooth excejjt a fine hairy ring at the joints. The leaves are 
6 to 10 inches long, narrow, and gradually tapering to a long point. 
There is a tuft of short white hairs at the top of the leaf sheath. The 
panicle is 4 to 6 inches long, erect or slightly nodding at the top, nar- 
rowly cylindrical with very short sessile branches, usually somewhat 
interrupted below, sometimes the lower branches are longer and the 
panicle looser. It has much the appearance of the other species which 
we called Pigeon grass. The axis of the panicle is scabrous. The lower 
glume is broadly ovate, more than half as long as the upper, clasping 
the base of the spikelet, three-nerved, acute, the margins scarious and 
minutely pubescent ; the upper glume is also broadly ovate, short-i>ointed, 
five-nerved, about as long as the perfect, spikelet ; the glumes of the 
sterile flower are much like the upper empty glumes and also five-nerved ; 
its palet is about two-thirds as long as the glume, and much narrower 5 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 43 

the perfect flower is oblong', very finely striate and dotted. The bristles 
are variable in length, about one to each spikelet, usually three to four 
times as long as the spikelet. 

We know little as to the agricultural value of this species : as it is 
found in the arid districts it is deserving the attention of farmers of that 
section. (Plate 17.) 

Setaria glanca. (Pigeon grass, Bottle grass.) 

A native of most tropical and many temperate climates, and has been 
introduced into most cultivated fields, springing up or growing after the 
cutting of wheat and early grain, and making its growth in the latter 
part of the season. It is generaly an annual, but southward it assumes 
a perennial form. It grows about 2 feet high, with leaves 6 to 9 inches 
long, one-foupth to one-third of an inch wide, and generally smooth. The 
panicle is terminal, cylindrical, 2 to 3 inches long, and about one-third of 
an inch wide, dense and spikelike from the numerous, approximated 
short branches or clusters of flowers. These clusters consist of from 
one to three spikelets, having at the base of each a cluster of from six 
to ten bristles, which are two to four lines long, and finely barbed up- 
wardly. When mature they assume a tawny yellow color. The spike- 
lets are a little over a line long, oblong ; both the outer glumes are short 
and broad, the lower one third and the upper two-thirds as long as the 
flower; the glume of the male or lower flower is broadly ovate, obtusish 
and five-nerved, its palet is of equal length and two-nerved ; the perfect 
flower is oblong, beautifully striated longitudinally, wrinkled and dotted 
transversely. This grass is often found with the next [8. Viridis), in 
stubble fields, and furnishes a considerable amount of fodder, which is 
as nutritious as Huno^arian grass, but not as productive. The figure 
(Plate 18) does not represent a sufficient quantity of bristles. 

Setaria viridis. (Green Pigeon or Foxtail.) 

This species has the general habit and appearance of the preceding; it 
differs in the commonly looser, longer, and more tapering, less erect 
spike, in the smaller spikelets, shorter lower glume, less distinctly 
transversely wrinkled seed, and in fewer bristles, which are of a green- 
ish color. It grows in the same situations and commonly with the pre- 
ceding. The seeds of both kinds are eagerly sought for b}^ birds and 
poultry, especially among the stubble after harvesting wheat. 

Penicillaria spicata. (African cane, Egyptian Millet, East India 
Millet, Cat-tail, and Pearl Millet.) 

A tall, erect, thick-stemmed grass. It grows to the height of 6 feet 
or more, and the stock is terminated by a compact, dense, cyliudrical spike 
resembling the common cat- tail, frequently a foot long and an inch in 
thickness, which is studded with the small obovate sessile grains, sur- 
rounded at the base by an abundance of short, coarse hairs or bristles. 



44 . THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

This millet has been more or less cultivated, especially in the Southern 
States, for many years. Jn rich ground it is said to yield an immense 
amount of forage, for which purpose it should be cut before it has ma- 
tured, and may be cut many times during the season. It is extensively 
cultivated in India and there forms an important article of food for the 
natives. 

Spartina. 

A genus of coarse, perennial grasses, growing mainly in marshy 
ground, from extensively-creeping, scaly root stocks. The leaves are 
long and tough and the sheaths smooth. The flowers are produced in 
racemed spikes, the spikes varying in size and arrangement in different 
species. The flowers are arranged in two ranks on one side of a trian- 
gular axis, being closely sessile and more or less imbricated. The spike- 
lets are one-flowered, much flattened laterally. The outer glumes are 
strongly compressed and keeled, acute or bristle-pointed, the keel mostly 
rough-hispid, the upper one longer and larger than the obtusish flower. 
The flowering glume is strongly compressed and is shorter than the 
thin membranaceous palet. There are about five species in the United 
States. 

SpArtina oynosuroides. (Fresh- water Cord grass, Fall Marsh grass.) 

This species has a wide range, from near the coast to the Missouri 
Eiver. In the Western States it is very plentiful, often forming a large 
part of the grass of the sloughs and wet marshes of that region. It is 
coarse and stout, growing from 3 to 5 feet high, with leaves 2 to 3 
feet long. The top of the culm for about 1 foot is occupied by from five 
to ten flower spikes, which are from to 3 inches long, and the spike- 
lets are very closely imbricated. The outer glumes are unequal, the 
lower one linear-lanceolate, the upper one lanceolate, with a long, stiff 
point. The flowering glume is about as long as the lower glume, the 
upper half of the stout keel strongly hispid. The palet is thin mem- 
branaceous, two-nerved, and longer than its glume. 

This grass is frequently cut for hay, but it is a very coarse, inferior 
article, unless cut when very young. It gives good feed very early in 
the spring, but becomes so coarse as soon to be rejected by the cattle 
when anything better is procurable. In the bottom lands of the Mis- 
sissippi it is abundant, and has to some extent been manufactured into 
paper. (Plate 19.) 

Spartina juncea. (Marsh grass. Salt grass, Eush salt grass.) 

A slender, rigid grass, usually 1 to 2 feet high, from a creeping, scaly 
rhizoma 5 leaves involute, rush-like, and rigid ; panicle composed of three 
to five linear, alternate, shortly-peduncled, spreading spikes 1 to 2 inches 
long and an inch or more distant on the culm. The spikelets are 
crowded. The outer glumes are very unequal, acute, the upper one 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 45 



linear-lanceolate, strongly compressed, and keeled, four or five lines long, 
the margins membrauaceoos, the middle thick, and the keel scabrous ; 
the lower one is less than halt as long as the ui)per, narrow and thin. 
The llowering glume is about four lines h>ng, lanceolate, obtuse, mem- 
branaceous, compressed, and with a thick midrib which is roughishnear 
the apex; the palet Is thio, as broad and somewhat longer than its 
glume. This grass forms a large portion of the salt marshes near the 
sea-coast. It makes an inferior hay, called salt hay, which is worth 
about half as much per ton as timothy and red-top. (Plate 20.) 

Tripsacum DACTYLOiDES. (Gama-grass, sesame-grass.) 

A tall, perennial grass, found both North and South, with solid culms 
from thick creeping rhizomes, broad and fiat leaves, and with fiower 
spikes 4 to 8 inches long produced from the side joints and from the 
top, either singly or two or three together. The upper portion of these 
spikes is staminate or male, and the lower portion pistillate and pro- 
ducing the seeds. The upper or male portion of the spikes drops off 
after flowering. The fertile portion is much thickened, somewhat flat- 
tened and angled, and the fertile flowers and seeds are deeply embedded 
in it. This part of the spike at maturity easily breaks up into short 
joints. The staminate flowers are three to four lines long, sessile, and 
in twos at each joint of the axis. Each spikelet is two flowered, the 
outer glumes are somewhat thick and coriaceous, oblong, the lower one 
obscurely many-nerved, the upper one of thinner texture, boat-shaped, 
five-nerved and scarious-margined; the flowering glumes and palets 
are equal in length to the outer glumes, very thin and membranaceous, 
awnless; the anthers open by two pores at the apex. The pistillate 
spikelets are single at each joint; also two-flowered ; the outer empty 
glume is ovate, cartilaginous- thickened, the inner glume much thinner, 
and pointed. One of the flowers is neutral, the other fertile, the flow- 
ering glumes and palets very thin and scarious. The stigmas are long, 
purple, and feathered. Mr. Howard, in the Manual of Grasses for the 
South, says: 

This is a native of the South, from the mountains to the coast. The seed stem 
was up to the height of 5 to 7 feet. The seeds break off from the stem as if from a 
joint, a single seed at a time. The leaves resemble those of corn. When cut before 
the seed stems shoot up they make a coarse but nutritious hay. It may be cut three 
or four times during the season. The quantit.y of forage whic'i can be made from it 
is enormous. Both cattle and horses are fond of the hay. Tlie roots are almost as 
large and strong as caue roots. It would require a team of four to six oxen to plow 
it up. It can, however, be easily killed by close grazing, and the mass of dead roots 
would certainly enrich the land. As the seeds of this grass vegetate with uncertainty, 
it is usually propagated by setting out slips of the roots about 2 feet apart each way. 
On rich land the tussocks will soon meet. In the absence of the finer hay grasses this 
will be found an abundant and excellent substitute. The hay made from it is very 
like corn fodder, is quite equal to it in value, and may be saved at a tithe of the ex- 
pense. 

This account is concurred in by other writers. (Plate 21.) 



46 THE AGRICULTUKAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



EuCHLCENA LUXURIANS. (Teosiiite, Guatemala grass.) 

This grass is a uative of Mexico and Central America, but has been 
introduced into cultivation in various parts of the world, and recently 
in the Southern States. It is closely related to Indian corn {zea mays). 
It has the male flowers in a tassel at the top of the stalk'. The fertile 
flowers are from the lateral joints, not like maize, on a thickened axis, 
but on a very slender stem, and inclosed in a loose external husk. 

Prof. Asa Gray writes in the American Agriculturist for August, 
1880, respecting this plant, as follows : 

The director of the botanic garden and government plantations at Adelaide, Sonth 
Australia, reports favorably of this strong-growing corn-like forage plant, that the 
prevailing dryness did not injure the plants, which preserved their healthy green, 
while the blades of other grasses suffered materially. The habit of throwing out 
young shoots is remarkable^ sixty or eighty rising to a height of 5 or 6 feet. Further 
north, at Palmerston (nearer the equator), in the course of five or six months the 
plant reached the height of 12 to 14 feet, and the stems on one plant numbered tifty- 
six. The j)lants, after mowing down, grew again several feet in a few days. The 
cattle delight in it in a fresh state, also when dry. Undoubtedly there is not a more 
prolific forage x)lant known ; but as it is essentially tropical in its habits, this luxu- 
riant growth is found in tropical or subtropical climates. The chief drawback to its 
culture with us will be that the ripening of the seed crop will be problematical, as 
early frosts will kill the plant. To make the Teosinte a most useful plant in Texas 
and along our whole southwestern border, the one thing needful is to develop early- 
flowering varieties, so as to get seed before frost. And this could be done without 
doubt if some one in Texas or Florida would set about it. What it has taken ages 
to do in the case of Indian corn, in an unconscious way, might be mainly done in a 
human life-time by rightly-directed care and vigorous selection. 

Zea MAYS. (Indian corn.) 

This plant is too well known to need more than a botanical descrip- 
tion. The staminate or male flowers are produced at the apex of the 
stalk in a large, branched panicle, a foot or more in length. The 
branches of the panicle are rather slender, 8 to 10 inches long, with a few 
shorter subbranches near the base. They are flo wer-beariu g through their 
entire length. The flowers are in small clusters of two to four spikelets 
at each joint of the flattened axis, on very short, slender pedicels, or some 
of them almost sessile, the diflerent clusters somewhat overlapping each 
other. The spikelets are each four to five lines long and two-flowered. 
The outer glumes are membranaceous, lanceolate, and acute or acumi- 
nate, sparsely hairy, fiv^eto nine nerved, and delicately purple striped. 
The flowering glumes and palets are nearly ps long as the outer glumes, 
lance oblong, alike in texture, very thin membranaceous, the glume 
three-nerved, the palet two-nerved, both delicately fringed on the mar- 
gins near the apex with soft white hairs. Stamens, three in each 
flower. 

The female or pistillate flowers are produced from lateral joints of 
the stem on a hard, thickened, cylindrical spike or axis, called the cob, 
in longitudinal rows (usually eight to sixteen). The spikelets are closely 
sessile and i^acked in the rows. The structure of the spikelets is some- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 



what obscure. The glumes aud palets are reduced to a few scales at 
the base of the large grain, and are usually unnoticed. At the apex of 
each grain is produced a long thread-like stjle, varying from a few 
inches to a foot long. The entire axis, or ear of corn as it is called, is 
enwrapped by a number of leaf-like bracts, commonly called the husks. 
The long thread like styles extend beyond and i:>rotrude from the point 
of this envelope, where they may be fertilized by the pollen falling 
upon them from the male tlowers in the terminal panicle. There is a 
variety of maize in which each kernel or grain of the corn is enveloped 
by a husk of three or four pieces three-fourths of an inch to 1 inch 
long. Tt is supposable that these are the normal envelopes, which in 
other varieties have become abortive. 

ZizANiA AQUATIC A. (Wild rice, Indian rice. Water oats.) 

This grass is botanically related to the common commercial rice (Oryza 
sativa)j but is very different in general appearance. It is widely diffused 
over Xorth America, and is found in Eastern Siberia and Jai^an. It 
grows on the muddy banks of rivers and lakes, both near the sea and 
far inland, sometimes in water 10 feet or more deep, forming i)atches or 
meadows covering many acres or extending for miles. Its ordinary 
growth is from 5 to 10 feet high, with a thick spongy stem and abun- 
dant long and broad leaves. The panicle is pyramidal in shape, 1 to 2 
feet long, and widely branching below. The uijper branches are rather 
appressed and contain the fertile flowers, and the lower branches con- 
tain only staminate ones. The spikelets are one-flowered, each with one 
pair of external husks or scales, which are by some botanists called 
glumes, and by others called palets. These husks or glumes in the 
fertile flower are nearly or quite an inch long, with an awn or beard as 
long or twice as long. The grain inclosed between them is half an inch ^ 
long, slender, and cylindrical. The glumes of the staminate flowers are 
about half an inch long and without awns, each flower containing six 
stamens. These flowers fall off soon after they expand. The fertile 
flowers also drop very readilj^ as soon as the grain is ripened. The grass 
abounds in the small lakes of Minnesota and the Xorthwest, and is there 
gathered by the Indians for food. The husk is removed by scorching 
with fire. It is a very palatable and nutritious grain. > Some attempts 
have been made to cultivate the grass, but the readiness of the seed to 
drop must interfere with a successful result. Xear the sea-coast multi- 
tudes of reed birds resort to the marshes where it grows and fatten upon 
the grain. The culms are sweet and nutritious, and cattle are said to 
be very fond of the grass. (Plate 22.) 

Leersia. 

A genus of rough-leaved grasses growing for the most ])art in marshy 
or moist ground throughout nearly all psiYts of the United States. 
There are about five species, two of which are confined to the Southern 



48 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

States j the others, at least two of them, are very common, though rarely 
occurring in great quantity. They are sometimes cut for hay. They 
cannot be recommended for culture, but may be utilized wherever they 
grow spontaneously. The flowers grow in spreading panicles. The 
spikelets are sessile, on short one-sided branches or spikes. The spike- 
lets are one-flowered, possessing but two scales, which may be called 
glumes or palets, which are strongly compressed, without awns, bristly 
ciliate on the keels, the lower one broader and inclosing the seed. 
Stamens, one to six; stigmas, two; grain flattened. The two common 
species are: 

1. Leersia oryzoides. (White grass, Cut grass. False rice.) 

This is a handsome grass, the culms decumbent. It is commonly 
called rice grass, from its strong resemblance to common rice. The 
leaves are pale green, frequently a foot or more long, prominently veined 
below, very rough on the margins and on the sheaths. The panicle is 
about 1 foot long, diffusely branched, the branches mostly in twos, and 
an inch or two distant. The spikelets are very flat, about two lines 
long, nearly sessile, and mostly toward the ends of the long branches. 
The glumes are unequal, the lower one much the broader; the palets 
are wanting. The leaves are so rough on the margins as readily to cut 
the hand if roughly drawn through it. 

2. Leersia Virginica. (Small-flowered White grass.^) 

In this species the panicle is much smaller and narrower, and the 
branches appressed. The spikelets are smaller, the glumes narrower 
and smoother, and there are but two stamens. The leaves are narrower 
and smoother than in the first. 

HiLARIA JAMESII. 

This grass was formerly called FleurapMs Jamesii. It is a native of 
the arid regions extending from Mexico to Colorado, growing in clumps 
from strong, scaly runners or rhizomas. The base of the culm is usu- 
ally covered with the dried leaves of the preceding year. The culms 
are from 1 to 1^ feet high, with a few short, rigid, light green, or bluish 
green leaves, which are more or less involute. Each culm is terminated 
by a simple, loose spike, 1 or 2 inches loog, with alternate clusters of 
sessile spikelets. These clusters are quite complex in structure, each 
one containing three spikelets, one central and two lateral. The central 
spikelet consists of a single fertile flower, and the lateral spikelets each 
of two male flowers. The lower glume in each lateral spikelet is awned 
about the middle. The two outer glumes of the central spikelet are 
bifid or two lobed, strongly nerved, and with the nerves extended into 
awns reaching beyond the apex of the glume 

We do not know to what extent this grass prevails, nor what may be 
its agricultural value. (Plate 23.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 

Andropogon. 

There are numerous species of tbis genus. They are perennial grasses, 
mostly tall, and with tough, wiry steins. Some of them occur in nearly 
all parts of the country from New England to Florida aud west to Ari- 
zona. They are most abundant, however, in the Southern States, where ,/ 
they have been employed for permanent pastures. When they occur in 
quantity they can be utilized,* but to be of value they should be kept 
from sendiug up their strong stems as these are universally rejected by 
cattle and horses. They are not to be recommended for cultivation, 
but their place^should as soon as possible be supplanted by more valu- 
able grasses. 

We will mention the more common kinds : 

1. Andropogon Virginious. (Broom grass. Broom sedge.) 

This species has an extended range on the eastern part of this conti- 
nent, growing in a great variety of soils and situations, but mostly on 
dry hills, abandoned fields, or stony woods and pastures. The culms 
are from 2 to 4 feet high, and very leafy j the leaves two -ranked at 
the base, smooth except a few long hairs on the margins and at the 
throat of the sheath. The panicle is long, narrow, and leafy, 1 to 2 feet 
long, composed of numerous lateral branches from the upper joints. 
These branches are several times subdivided and partly inclosed in* 
the long-leaf sheath, each ultimate sheath or bract inclosing usually a 
pair of loose, slender flower spikes. These spikes are about 1 inch long, 
comprising ten or twelve joints, each joint giving rise to one sessile fer- 
tile spikelet, and a hairy pedicel longer than the fertile flower, at ihe 
summit of which there is the vestige of a flower, or a mere bristle-like 
point. The" fertile spikelets are one-*flowered aud consist of two outer 
thickish glumes and two thin transparent inner ones, one of which has 
a slender awn three or four times its own length ; the upper one is by 
some considered as a palet, and is not awned. (Plate 24.) 

2. Andropogon scopariijs. (Wood grass, Broom grass.) 

This grass usually grows from 2 to 3 feet high, the flowering spikes 
coming out in small clusters from many of the side joints on slender, 
graceful peduncles. The spikes have a small bract near the base, and 
consist of a slender axis, with from six to ten alternate joints. At each 
joint there is one sessile, fertile spikelet, and a flatttened hairy pedicel 
or stalk nearly as long as the fertile spikelet, and at its apex a rudi- 
mentary flower, consisting of a single awned glume. The fertile spikelet 
has two outer, empty, narrowly lanceolate glumes, about four lines long. 
The flowering glume is very thin, and furnished with a twisted awn 
twice as long as the flower. The palet is also very thin and shorter than 
its glume. 

Mr. Charles Mohr, of Mobile, says of this grass : 

One of our most common grasses, covering old lields aud fence-rows, aud extensively 
growing in the dry sandy soil of the pine woods. Much despised as it is as atrouble- 
2218 GR 4 ^ 



50 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OB THE UNITED STATES. 



some, unsightly weed, it has its good qualities, vrliich entitle it to a more charitable 
cou^i^leration. In the dry pine woods it contributes, while green and tender, a large 
share to the sustenance of stock. 

(Pi ate 25.) 

3. Ais^DROPOGON MACRorm s. (Heavy topped Broom grass.) 

This species is frequent ou low sandy ground near the coast, from 
New Jersey to Florida and thence westward to Texas. It has a stout 
culm 2 to 3 or even 4 or 5 feet high, bushy branched at the summit, 
loaded with numerous flower-spikes, which foim thick leaJ'y clusters. 
The spikelets have the same general structure as the precediog. The 
fertile flower has a capillary awn three or four times as long as its glume, 
and the sterile flower, which is usually present in the genus, is reduced 
to a mere point at the apex of th e slender plumose pedicel. (Plate 26.) 

4. AxDROPOGON PURCATUS. (Fihger-spiked Broom grass, Blue Stem.) 
This is the tallest of our species. It grows erect to the height of 5 

or 6 feet, in rocky or hilly ground, or at the West it is abundant on the 
native prairies, where it is frequently c ailed blue stem. The leaves are 
long and frequently somewhat hairy on the sheaths and margins. The 
spikes are in small clusters of three to six, terminating the stalk, and 
also several clusters from the side branches. The spikes are usually 2 
to 3 inches long, rather rigid, and contain ten to twenty points each. 
At each joint there is one sessile, perfect flower, and one stalked one, 
which is male onlj^, otherwise it is nearly like the fertile one. The 
outer glumes are about 4 lines long, the upper ones tipped with a short 
stifl' awn. The flowering glume of the perfect flower is twisted and 
about one-half inch long. 

This species, as above stated, is abundant on the prairies of the West, 
where it is one of the principal hay grasses of the country, and is exten- 
sively cut and cured for winter use. (Plate 27.) 

Chrysopogon nutans. (Indian grass, Wood grass.) 

This is a near relative of the A]uJyo])ogo}is ; is also related to the 
genus Sorghum, and is known in the botanical works as Sorghum 
nutans. It is a tall, perennial grass, having a wide range over all the 
country east of the Eocky Mountains. It grows rather sparsely and 
forms a thin bed of grass. The stalks are 3 to 4 feet high, smooth, hol- 
low, straight, and having at the top a narrow panicle of handsome straw- 
colored or brownish flowers, 6 to 12 inches long, which is gracefully 
drooping at the top. The spikelets are at the ends of the slender 
branches of the loose panicle, generally of a yellowish color. At the 
base of each spikelet are two (one on each side) short, feathery pedicels, 
the flowers which they are supposed to have been made to support have 
entirely disapx)eared. The outer glumes are about three lines long, 
both alike lanceolate, obtusish, coriaceous five to seven nerved, the 
lower one sparsely hairy, and with hairs at the base and on the stalk 
below. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 



Within the outer glumes are two tliiu liyaline glumes, one nearly as 
long as the outer glumes, and a shorter one with a twisted and bent awn 
half an inch or more in length. The true i3alet is very minute or 
wanting. 

This grass when it occurs in quantitj^ is frequently utilized for hay 
making, for which purpose it should be cut early. There are three 
otber species occurring in the Southern and Southwestern States not 
of much value in an economic view. (Plate 28.) 

Sorghum halapense. (Cuba grass, Johnson grass,. Means grass. 
False Guinea grass, Evergreen millet, Arabian millet.) 

A tall perennial grass, with strong, thick, undergrowing root-stocks, 
and an abundance of long and wide leaves. Its stems attain a height 
of 5 or 6 feet, with a large and spreading panicle. In botanical charac- 
ters it does not differ much from the preceding genus, except in habit 
and in the flower glumes becoming more hardened after flowering. The 
panicle when well developed is a foot or more in length, with the lower 
branches 5 or 6 inches long, and whorled, the upper ones, fewer and grad- 
ually shorter, becoming widely spreading, subdivided and flower-bear- 
ing to below the middle. The spikelets on the short branchlets are in 
pairs at each joint and in threes at the extremity. Of the pairs, one 
is sessile and perfect, the other is stalked and male only. Of those at 
the extremity, one is sessile and perfect, and two stalked and male onl3^ 
The spikelets are about two lines long, ovate-lanceolate. The outer 
glumes of the fertile spikelets are acute, coriaceous, smooth, and shining, 
or with a few sparse hairs ; the veins, (5 to 9) are obscure externally, 
but internally are plain and sometimes beautifully cross-veined. Within 
these thick outer glumes are two thin delicate leaflets, by some called 
palets, by others considered to be inner glumes, the shorter of which 
occasionally bears a twisted awn or beard half an inch long. The male 
spikelets are qu stems or pedicels one line long. They are as long as 
the perfect flowers, but the outer glumes are much thinner, and they 
contain only three stamens. The flowers and seeds are similar to 
those of broom-corn, which belongs to the same genus. 

This grass has been often called Guinea grass, but that name jyiop- 
erly belongs to a quite different plant, Fanicum jumentorum, of which 
see an account elsewhere. The underground root stocks are sometimes 
half an inch thick, very succulent, and are eagerly sought for and eaten 
by hogs. The grass spreads and is readily propagated from these root- 
stocks, every joint being capable of developing a new shoot. Mr. IsT. B. 
Moore, of Augusta, Ga., has cultivated this grass for over forty years, 
and prefers it to all others. He says it is perennial, as nutritious as 
any other, when once set is difficult to eradicate, will grow on ordinary 
land, and yields abundantly. 

My meadovr consists of 100 acres of alluvial laud; the grass should he cut when 
from 2 to 4 feet high ; on such land as mine it will afford three or four cuttings if the 
season is propitious. 



52' THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Many farmers and planters especially object to this grass because of 
the difficulty of eradicating it. Bot Mr. Hubert Post says it is not as 
hard to get rid of as many suppose. He says that one of his neighbors, 
in 1878, broke up some 15 acres, which he has since successfully planted 
in cotton with no trouble from the grass. He also says that in this 
Johnson grass a kind Providence has given the South a mine of wealth, 
which could easily be made a foundation for wealth and prosperity such 
as the South has never seen. The history of the grass in this country 
is said to be as follows: 

Governor Means, of South Carolina, obtained some of the seed from 
Turkey as early as 1835. He planted it on his plantation, where it is 
stilled called Means grass. In 1840 or 1845 William Johnson, of Alabama 
obtained some of the seed and sowed it upon his farm, whence it derived 
the name of Johnson grass. It is said to have been introduced into 
California from Australia, and has there been cultivated under the name 
of evergreen millet. It has been tried in Kansas with very promising 
results. A farmer there obtained some seed from his brother in Cali- 
fornia, who had cultivated it successfully on a very dry soil on an upland 
farm. This farmer finds it to be in Kansas perfectly hardy, rapid in 
growth, affording three cuttings in one season, and producing a heavy 
growth of after-math for fall grazing. Horses and cattle are fond of it 
both in its dryland green condition. Probably no grass gives better 
promise for the dry arid lands of the West. In Utah it has been culti- 
vated under the name of Arabian millet grass. (Plate 29.) 

Sorghum yulgare. (Sorghum sugar cane. Broom corn, Chinese 
sugar cane,IGuinea corn, Doura corn, Indian millet, Chocolate 
corn, Pampas rice, African millet, &c.) 
' The above-named grasses are generally believed to be all varieties of 
Sorghum vulgare. Most of them are well known and cultivated for var- 
ious purposes other than for hay or forage. The Doura corn has been 
extensively cultivated in some of the arid western counties of Kansas, 
where the grain is used for feed for hogs and cattle and also as human 
food. The seeds of the other varieties are probably also valuable for 
feed for stock. 

The sugar corn has been extensively cultivated at the Korth and West, 
and has lately received an extraordinary impulse from the development 
of successful methods of manufacturing sugar from its juice. It is also 
frequently sown thickly for a forage crop, and in good seasons and with 
proper cultivation furnishes a very heavy yield. 

The botanical character may be briefly given as follows : Flowers in 
an ample terminal panicle, loose and spreading, or close and compact, 
erect or nodding. The flowers are on the small branches near their ex- 
tremities. If examined while young it will be observed that there are 
two kinds of flowers, one perfect and finally producing seeds, the others 
containing only stamens or empty. The male or sterile flowers are on 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 53 

short stalks, one or two at the base of each perfect flower, which is ses- 
sile or without a stalk. At or near maturity the sterih:^ flowers drop 
off, leaving still remaining the short stem or stems on which they were 
borne. The perfect spikelethas two outer glumes, which are tough and 
leathery, and two thin transparent inner ones, one of which is two- 
lobed at the apex, and between the lobes extended into a short, rigid, 
bent and twisted awn or beard. Stamens, three stigmas, plumose. The 
sterile spikelets are narrower, the outer glumes without the leathery text- 
ure, nerved longitudinally, the two inner ones thin and delicate, desti- 
tute of the awn and containing three stamens or empty. 

* Phalaris. 

This genus is defined as having spikelets with one perfect flower and 
one or two rudimentary flowers, or mere sterile pedicels, within the 
outer glumes and below the proper flower. 

The outer glumes are comxHessed and boat-shaped, acute, strongly 
keeled, becoming coriaceous or cartilagiuous. The inner or true flower 
consists of two thin glumes, sometiDies called palets, inclosing the sta- 
mens and pistils. No proper palet present. 

Phalaris arundinacea. (Reed canary grass.) 

A perennial, grass with strong creeping rhizomas, growing from 2 to 
5 feet high, usually in low or wet ground. It ranges from l^ew England 
and ^ew York westward to Oregon, and northward to Canada, also in 
the mountainous parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia. It is common, 
also, in the north of Europe. The culm is stout, smooth, and leafy; the 
leaves are mostly from 6 to 1.0 inches long, and about half an inch wide, 
the upper ones shorter. The ligule is about two lines long, rounded or 
obtuse. The panicle is from 2 to 4 inches long, narrow and spike-like ; 
the branches short and crowded above, rather distant below,, slightly 
spreading when in flower. The spikelets are three lines long; the outer 
glumes nearly equal, nearly smooth, boat-shaped, oblong-lanceolate, 
acute, tliree to five nerved, the keel scabrous and slightly thickened 
near the apex. The flowering glumes are one-third shorter, ovate, 
thick, somewhat hairy externally. The two sterile pedicels are about 
one-third as long as the flowering glumes and feathered. 

The stout stems bear Ave or six leaves, which are 6 to 8 inches long, 
and a quarter to a half inch wide, smoothish except on the edge, striate 
and pointed. The ligule is conspicuous, thin, and rounded. This grass 
is said to be extensively used for fodder in Sweden, and is liked by 
cattle. Mr. J. S. Gould says of it : 

In tlie province of Scania it is mown twice a year. The peasantry there use it as a 
thatch for their cottages and hayvstacks and find it is more durable than straw. It 
is very certain thkt cattle in our country do not relish it either as pastuie or hay, and 
they will not touch it as long as they can get anything better. Wljen cut very young, 
say when about 1 foot high, and used for soiling, cattle eat it better than any 
other way. 



64 THE AGRICULTUEAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The well-known ribbon grass of the garden is a variety of this grass, 
and will, it is said, easily revert to the normal type. In mountainous 
regions it may be worth trial for meadows. (Plate 30.) 

Phalaeis intermedia. (Southern reed Canary grass, Gilbert's Belief 
grass, Stewart's Canary grass, California Timothy grass.) 

This species resembles the foreign Canary gm^s {Phalaris Canarien- 
sis)^ which produces the seed commonlj^ sold as food for Canary birds. 
It is, however, a taller and more robust species, growing 2 to 3 feet 
high, with a stout, erect culm and broad linear leaves, which are from 
4 to 10 inches long. The spike is oblong and compact, 1 or 2 inches 
long. There is a variety called var. migustata. in which the spike is 3 or 
4 inches long. The spikelets are much like those of the preceding spe- 
cies (P. arundinacea), having one i)erfect llower and two abortive ones. 
The outer glumes in P. intermedia are lanceolate and nearly alike and 
have a narrow wing extending down the keel. The glumes of the fer- 
tile flower are nearly like those of P. arundinacea already described. 

This species grows in South Carolina and the Gulf States, extending 
to Texas, then stretching across to the Pacificcoast and occurring through 
California and Oregon. It has frequently been sent to the Department 
from the Southern States as a valuable winter grass. 

Mr. Thomas W. Beaty, of Conway, S. C, writes as follows : 

The grass I send you was planted last Septenaber, and the specimens were cat on 
the 9th of March (following). You will notice that it is heading out and is just now 
in a right conditiou for mowing. It is wholly a winter grass, dying down in the lat- 
ter part of April and first of May, and it seems to me should he a great thing for the 
South if properly introduced and cultivated, or rather the ground properly prepared 
and the seed sown at the right time. It would afford the best of green pasturage for 
sheep and cattle all winter. It is what we call Gilbert's relief grass. 

Many years ago Dr. Lin cecum, of Texas, experimented with this grass 
and recommended it very highly. In California it is called California 
timothy, and is said to have little or no agricultural value. It is an an- 
nual or biennial. Professor Phares says : 

The variety angustata is much larger and more valuable. It grows 2 to 3 feet 
high, and in swamps 5 feet, with many leaves 4 to 10 inches long, the spike some- 
what resambling the head of timothy ; stock like it well, especially as hay. Mr. D. 
Stewart, of Louisiana, having tested other grasses, prefers this for quantity and quality 
for winter and spring grazing, and for soiling for milk cows. There is much testimony 
from many parts of the South of the same import, and this grass is doubtless worthy 
of extended, careful testing. 

(Plate 31.) 

Anthoxanthum odoratum. (Sweet vernal grass.) 

A perennial grass, native of Europe, much emplo^^ed as a part of 
mixed lawn grasses, and also frequently found in meadows. It grows 
thinly on the ground, with slender culms, seldom more than 1 foot to 
18 inches in height, and scanty in foliage. The panicle is 2 to 3 inches 
long, narrow and close, but expands considerably during flowering time. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 55 

The spikelets are clustered, tliree to four liues long, aud with oue per- 
fect flower. There are two pairs of empty glumes ; the oufcer pair is un- 
equal; the lower are about half as long as the seooud ; both are acute 
aud keeled. Within these glumes is a second pair, about half as long as 
the first, thin, two-lobed, hairy, and with an awn or bristle on the back 
longer than the longest outer glume. These may be considered as 
abortive or defective flowers. Between these inner glumes is the fertile 
flo\^er, consisting of another pair of glumes, inclosing the floral organs. 
These glumes are commonly called palets; they are less than aline long, 
tliin and transparent, the lower one broad and three nerved, the upper 
narrow and one-nerved. There are two stamens and two styles. 

This grass is very fragrant and gives a pleasant odor to hay which 
contains it. Mr. J. Stanton Gould says : 

It is nowhere considered a very valuable variety for hay, as the culms are wide 
apart, very thin, aud bear but few leaves; hence it gives a light crop of hay. 

(Plate 32.) 

HiEROCHLOA BOREALis. (Vanilla or Seneca grass. Holy grass.) 

This -is a perennial grass of northern latitudes, growing in moist 
meadows near the coast, also in low marshy ground in some parts 
of Illinois and other States bordering the Great Lakes, and in the 
mountains of Colorado and northward. The name Eierochloa means 
sacred grass, so called because it, with other sweet-scented grasses, 
was strewed before the church doors in the north of Europe. The culms 
grow from 1 to 2 feet high, with short lanceolate leaves, and an open 
pyramidal panicle from 2 to 5 inches long. The spikelets are three- 
flowered, the third or terminal one perfect, but with only two stamens; 
the two lower flowers of the spikelet are male only, each with three 
stamens. The two outer glumes are thin and scarious, acutely keeled; 
the glumes of the male flowers are thicker, slightly pubescent, and 
fringed on the margins with soft brownish hairs, sometimes with a very 
short awn from the apex, and inclosing a narrow, bifid, two-keeled palet; 
the upper or perfect flower has a one-nerved glume in place of the usual 
palet. This grass is very sweet-scented and is often used to perfume 
drawers, &c. It grows commonly in the northern parts of Europe, as 
^vTorway, Sweden, and Eussia. In our country it does not appear to be 
adapted to general cultivation. There are two other species native to 
this country. (Plate 33.) 

(1.) Hierochloa alpina growing on mountains at high altitudes, and 
(2) Hierochloa macrophylla^ a largeleaved, robust si)ecies, growing in 
California, whose value for agricultural purposes is undetermined. 

Alopecurus pratensis. (Meadow Fox tail.) 

This is a perennial grass, native of Europe, but has been introduced 
and is frequently found in meadows in the Eastern States. It has con. 
siderable resemblance to timothy, but will be readily distinguished by 



56 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



an examioation. It ordinarily grows about 2 feet high but frequently in 
good soil reaches 3 feet or more. The culms are erect, with four or five 
leaves at pretty uniform distances. The sheaths are long and rather 
loose, particularly^ on the upper one. The blade of the leaf is 3 or 4 in- 
ches long, about one-quarter inch wide, at the base and tapering gradu- 
a:lly to a point. The panicle terminates the stalk and is a cylindrical 
spike 2 or 3 inches long, dense, soft, and with the awns of the flowers con- 
spicuously projecting. The spikelets are single-flowered, between two 
and three lines long. The outer glumes are strongly comj^ressed, boat- 
shaped, keeled, nearly equal, sometimes slightly united together at the 
base, and have a line of soft, short hairs on the keels. These glumes 
. closely inclose the flower, w hich is of nearly the same length, and consists 
of a flowering glume (formerly called the lower palet) and the floral or- 
gans, but without any true palet. This flowering glume is folded upon 
itself and incloses the stamens and styles. It gives rise on its back near 
the base to a fine awn, which extends two or three lines beyond the 
glumes. 

Mr. J. S. Gould says : 

It flourishes in. May, nearly four weeks in advance of timothy, and is one of the 
earliest grasses to start in the spring. Pastures well covered with this grass will af- 
ford a full hite at least one week earlier than those which do not have it. It does not 
flourish in dry soils, but loves moist lauds; no grass bears a hot sun better, and it is 
not injured by frequent mowings, on which account, as well as for its early verdure, 
it is valnable for lawns. 

There is a variety of this grass called A. aJpestris, growing in the 
Eocky Mountains, which may possibly be utilized there. 
Mr. Charles L. Flint says : 

It is a valuable pasture grass on accouut of its early and rapid growth, and of its 
being greatly relished by stock of all kinds. The stems and leaves are too few 
and light to make it so desirable as a field crop. It thrives best on a rich, moist, 
strong soil, and shoots up its flowering stalks so much earlier than timothy, that it 
need not be mistaken for that grass, though at first sight it considerably resembles it. 
It is superior to timothy as a permanent pasture grass, enduring the cropping of sheep 
and cattle better, and sending up a far more luxuriant aftermath. It is justly re- 
garded, therefore, as one of the most valuable of the native pasture grasses of Engl ard 
forming there a very considerable portion of the sward and enduring a great auiouut 
of forcing and irrigation. Though forming a close and pennauent sod when fully set, 
it does not acquire its full perfection and hold of the soil until three or four years 
after being sown. 

(Plate 34.) 

Alopecurus geniculatus. (Wafer Fox tail.) 

This species, especially the variety arisfulatus, is native to this coun- 
try. It is commonly found on the muddy banks of streams and lakes, 
and sometimes is found in wet meadows and ditches. It seldom grows 
more than a foot in height; the stem is usuall}^ bent at the lower joints, 
and the sheaths of the leaves are more or less swollen, especially the 
upper oue. It is of no value for cultivation, being only useful for the 
amount of grass it may contribute to the wild forage where it grows. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 57 



Alopecuevs ALPI?^US. 

A species resembling" the Alopecurus iwatensis grows in alpine mead- 
ows in the Eocky Mountains. 

Aristida. 

This is a genus of grasses of which many species are found in the 
United States, Mexico, and South America. They are principally an- 
nual grasses and are of little value, unworthy of cultivation, but in 
some regions, particularly the arid Western plains, they furnish a por- 
tion of the wild forage. 

Aristida purpurascens. (Beard grass, Three-awned grass.) 

This species grows in many of the States east of the Mississippi Eiver, 
usually in x)oor, sandy, or clay soil, in thin woods or barren fields. It 
grows usually about 2 feet high, with a slender, smooth culm, narrow 
leaves, which are inclined to be involute when dry, and with a narrow, 
loose, spike-like panicle a foot or more long, which usually gracefully 
droops or bends. The branches are short, appressed, mostly single at 
the joints of the axis, and each having seldom more than two or three 
spikelets. The spikelets are sin^>le-flowered, the outer glumes are nar- 
rowlj^ linear, four or five lines long, the lower one slightly the longer, 
both usually sharply pointed. These glumes inclose the flower, which 
consists of a slender, almost cylindrical flowering glume about three lines 
long, having a short-pointed, hair3^ base, and along, three-bearded apex. 
This glume enrolls the narrow, thin palet and the floral organs. The 
awns or beards are widely spreading, the middle one about an inch long, 
the two lateral ones somewhat shorter. (Plate 35.) 

Aristida purpurea. (Western Beard grass. Purple Three-awned 

grass.) 

This species prevails extensively west of the Mississippi Eiver, from 
British America to Mexico, and is abundant on the plains of Kansas, 
New Mexico, and Texas. It grows usually 1 to 1.^ feet high, with 
slender culms, branching at the base, and with short, involute leaves. 
It is an exceedingly variable species, or there are several distinct va- 
rieties. The panicle is 6 to 8 inches long, rather narrow, erect, or flex- 
uous. The spikelets are much like those of the preceding species, but 
usually larger and with longer awns or beards. In some varieties these 
awns are 2 or 3 inches long, widely diverging, and purplish colored, the 
whole panicle having a graceful and feathery appearance. 

Like the other species, this is an inferior grass, but furnishes a con- 
siderable amount of wild forage. (Plate 36.) 

Aristida bromoides. 

A small, apparently annual, grass, growing in Xew Mexico, Arizona, 
and Southern €alifornia. It grows in tufts, the culms from 6 to 12 
inches high, slender, erect, and generally unbraached. The spikelets 
are seven to eight lines long, including the awn. (Plate 37.) 



f 



58 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Stipa. (Feather grass. Beard grass.) 

A genus mostly of coarse, rigid grasses, chiefly Western, in structure 
and habit resembling the preceding genus. It differs in having the 
spikelets usually longer and the flowering glume haviDg a single undi- 
vided awn or beard. 

Stipa yiridula. (Bunch grass.) 

A perennial grass, culms 2 to 4 feet high, leafy ; the radical leaves 12 to 
18 inches long, those of the stem 4 to 10 inches long, one to two lines 
wide, involute, and bristle-like at the point : sheaths lor g, smooth, the 
uppermost inclosing the base of the panicle ; panicle very variable in 
size, from 6 inches to a foot or more, narrow and loose, variable in thick- 
ness, the branches mostly in twos or threes, erect and appressed, much 
subdivided; spikelets, one-flowered on short pedicels; outer glumes 
four to six lines long, bristle-pointed, nearly equal, lanceolate, three to 
five nerved, thin ; flowering glume three to four lines long, cylindrical, 
covered with short, scattered hairs, which are longer at the minutely 
two-toothed apex, which is terminated by a slender awn 1 to IJ inches 
long, once or twice bent, twisted andsparsely pubescent below, scabrous 
above. The palet is narrow and shorter than its glume, by which the 
floral organs and it are involved. Widely diffused over the Eocky 
Mountain region, extending to California, Oregon, and British Amer- 
ica, furnishing a considerable part of the wild forage of the region. 
(Plate 38.) 

Stipa setigera. (Bear-grass, Bunch grass.) 

A iDcrennial grass, growing in bunches on dry hills and plains from 
Oregon to Southern California and eastward to Arizona and Texas. 
The culms are 2 to 3 feet high, erect, somewhat pubescent at the joints, 
with about three leaves. The sheaths are long and somewhat scabrous, 
the upper one loose and inclosing the base of the i)anicle; the blade flat, 
two or three lines wide, 4 to 6 inches long, roughish and loug.pointed ; 
the upper one nearly as long as the panicle, which is about 6 inches 
long, loose, the raj's mostly' in pairs, rather distant,, slender, bearing 
near the extremity the few spikelets on short pedicels. Spikelets one- 
flowered, the outer glumes one-half to two-thirds of an inch long", the 
upper one rather shorter, narrow, acute, purplish and three-nerved. 
The flowering glume is nearly cylyndrical, four to five lines long, spar- 
ingly hairy above, with a short, stiff' point at the base called a callus, 
and a hardened ring at the apex, t o which is attached the slonder, twisted 
awn, 2 to 3 inches long, the lower part of which is softly pubescent. 
Professor Brewer says this is the most common and most valuable 
"bunch grass" of the hills of California. (Plate 3:).) 

Stipa eminens. (Feather grass, Beard grass.) 

A very common species in California on dry hills, growing in rather 
small tufts with numerous short and narrow root-leaves. It is a per- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 59 

ennial, growing' usually 2 to 3 feet high, ^Yith rather slender culms, and 
slightly hairy joints. The leaves are very narrow and convolute, rather 
rough and rigid, the lower ones about half the length of the culm. The 
pauicle is rather narrow, but open and loose, usually about 6 inches 
long, at first sheathed by the upper leaf, but becoming exerted ; the 
branches are slender, in pairs, and flower-bearing above the middle. 
The spikelets, as in the preceding, are single-flowered, the outer glumes 
about half an inch long, very narrow, three-nerved, and long,}fine-pointed. 
The flowering glume is very similar to that of the preceding, rather 
shorter and smaller, with a ring of very short hairs at the apex, and 
with an awn about an inch long, which readily separates from its glume. 
(Plate 40.) 

Stipa spartea and Stipe comata are two species, also called bunch 
grasses, which prevail from British America southward, on the plains 
and in the mountain region, very similar in general appearance to the 
preceding, but usually with longer awns, sometimes 6 inches long. 

Mr. Eobert Miller Christy, writes about these grasses in Manitoba, 
where they are common, that there is much complaint concerning them 
among stockmen on account of the injury they do to shetp by the pene- 
tration into their wool, and even into the flesh, of the sharp-pointed and 
barbed awns of the seeds. 

Stipa avenacea is the only species prevailing in the Eastern and South- 
ern States. It is more slender than those previously mentioned, and 
grows sparsely in open woods or on rocky hills. It is of no agricultural 
importance. 

Eriocoma cuspidata. (Bunch grass.) 

This grass has a -sv^de distribution, not only on the Sierras of Cali- 
fornia, but northward to British America, and eastward through all the 
interior region of Utah, iTevada, Kew Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and 
i^ebraska to the Missouri Eiver. It is a perennial, growing in dense 
tufts, whence its common name of bunch grass. The culms are 1 to 2 
feet high, with about three narrow, convolute leaves, the upper one 
having a long, inflated sheath which incloses the base of the pauicle. 
The radical leaves are narrow, rigid, and as long as or longer than the 
culm. The panicle is about 6 inches long, very loose, spreading, and 
flexuous. The branches are in pairs, slender, rather distant, and 
are subdivided mostly in pairs. The spikelets are at the ends of the 
capillary branches, each one flowered. The outer glumes are three to 
four lines long, inflated and widened below, gradually drawn to a sharp - 
pointed apex, thin and colorless except the three or five green nerves, 
and slightly hairy. The glumes inclose an ovate flower, which is cov- 
ered externally with a profusion of white, silky hairs, and tipped with 
a short awn, which falls off* at maturity. This apparent flower is the 
flowering glume of a hard, coriaceous texture, and incloses a similar 
hard, but not hairy, and smaller palet. (Plate 41.) 



60 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Milium effusum. (Wild millet.) 

A perennial, rather slender, grass. 4 or 5 feet bigb, growing in damp 
woods in the northern portions of the United States and in Canada. It 
is also found in ^^^orthern Europe and in Russian Asia. There are four to 
five joints to the culm, each provided with a leaf which is broad and tiat, 
6 to 12 inches long, and half an inch wide, smooth above and roughish 
below. The sheaths are long and smooth. The pauic|e is loose and 
spreading, 6 to 10 inches long, the slender branches mostly in fives, of 
unequal length, the longer ones 2 to 3 inches, and tioweriug near the 
extremities. The whorls are from 1 to 2 inches apart. Tlie spikelets 
are single-flowered, consisting of a pair of thin, concave, smoothish, 
empty glumes, one to one and one-half lines long, rather exceeding the 
flowering glume, which is thick and hard, very smooth and shining, and 
inclosing the palet which is of similar texture. The flowers are in 
structure similar to those of Panicum^ to which this grass is closely re- 
lated. 

Hon. J. S. Gould, in the Report of the i^ew York State Agricultural 
Society, says respecting this grass : 

Mouutain meadows and borders of streams aud cold woods. It thrives when trans- 
planted to open aud exposed situations. It is one of the most beautiful of the grasses ; 
the panicle is often a foot long, and the branches are so exceedingly delicate that the 
small glossy spikelets seem to be suspended in the air. Birds are very fond of the 
seed. Mr. Colman says that he has raised 3 tons to the acre of as good nutritious 
hay as could be grown from it, when sown in May. The plants multiply by the roots 
as well as by the seed, sending out horizontal shoots of considerable length, which 
root at the joint as they extend. 

(Plate 42.) 

MUHLENBERGIA. (Drop-seed grass.) 

There are many species of this genus, mostly perennials. It is char- 
acterized as having small, one-flowered spikelets, generally in open pan- 
icles. The outer glumes are variable in size in different species, in 
some minute, in others nearly as large as the flowering glume, some- 
times bristle-pointed, sometimes very blunt, and sometimes toothed at 
the apex. The flowering glume is longer than the outer glumes, with 
a short more or less hairy callus at the base, three to five nerved, thin- 
nish or rigid mucronate pointed, or commonly with a long capillary awn 
from the apex ; the palet as long as the flowering awn and of sim- 
ilar texture. 

MuHLENBERGiA DIFFUSA. (Nimble will, Drop seed. Wire grass.) 

This species is perennial, low with much-branched, decumbent stems 
and slender panicles of flowers. The outer glumes are very minute, so 
small as to be scarcely visible to the naked eye, transparent and obtuse ; 
the flowering glume little more than a line long, tipped with a fine awn 
or beard once or twice its own length. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 61 



Professor Killebrew, of Tennessee, says: 

It is hardly uiore thau necessary to mention this grass, which forms in many sec- 
tions the bnlk of the pastures of rhe ^YOOLls. It does not grow in fields, bnt in woods, 
where, after rains have set in. it carpets the earth wirli living green. Various opin- 
ions are entertained as to itsuutritive qualities. Some farmers assert that their stock 
are fond of it, and that on suliticieut range cattle, horses, and sheep wiil go inlo the 
winter sleek and fat from this vioorons grass. Others regard it as well nigh worth- 
less. 

According to the analysis of the chemist of this Department it has a 
very good amonnt of nntririve properties. It is considered by some 
that it is a good butter- producer and gives a good flavor to batter. In 
cultivation, no doubt, its place can be supplied with much more pro- 
ductive grasses. (Plate 43.) 

MuHLEXBERGiA Mexicaxa. (Wood grass.) 

A i^erennial grass of decumbent habit, 2 to 3 feet high, very much 
branched, from scaly creeping root-stocts. The cnlm has numerous short 
joints, which frequently are bent and rooting near the base, and sending 
out many long, slender, leafy lateral branches. From these branches and 
from the apex of the culm arise the flowering panicles, which are some- 
times partially included in the leaf sheaths. The leaves are 3 to 4 
inches long and two to three lines wide, gradnally pointed. The pani- 
cles are narrow, usually 2 to 3 inches long, and composed of five to ten 
spike like branches, closely approximated or distant and interrupted 
below. The spikelets are single-flowered : the outer glumes are ab- 
ruptly sharp-pointed and nearly as long as the flowering glume, which 
is narrow, strongly three-nerved, and acute, with usually a few soft 
hairs at the base and on the nerves. The palet is of equal length with 
its glume, which is also acute, but not bristle-pointed. 

This grass is frequently found in moist woods and low meadows or 
in prairie bogs. It probably would not endure upland culture, but in 
its native situations it fills an im^^ortant part among indigenous grasses. 
(Plate 44.) 

MUHLENBERGIA SVLVATICA. (Wood graSS.) 

This species in habit and appearance is very much like that of the 
preceding. The panicle is looser, the spikelets not so densely clustered, 
and the flowering glume bears an awn two or three times as long as 
itself. The outer glumes are generally bristle-pointed, but they vary 
nuich in this respect, in some forms being only acute. It inhabits drier 
situations than the M. Mexican i^ being found in dry, open, or rocky 
woods and fence-corners. In agricultural value it corresponds with 
that species. (Plate 45.) 

MuHLEXBERGiA GL03IERATA. (Spiked Muhlenbergia.) 

This grass grows in wet, swampy grounds, chiefly in the northern 
and Avestern portions of the United States. It is found in Colorado, 



62 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Utah, Xevada, I^ew Mexico, and Texas. It grows to the height of 2 or 3 
feet, stiffly erect, and generallj' unbranched. The culm is hard, some- 
what compressed, and very leafy. The panicle is narrow, 2 to 4 inches 
long, composed of numerons close clusters of flowers, becominj]: looser 
below, forming an interrupted glomerate spike. The spikelets are 
closely sessile in the clusters. The outer glumes are linear-lanceolate, 
gradually tapering into an awn or bristle of equal length. The flower- 
ing glume is one-third to one half shorter than the outer glumes and 
very acute. The root-stock is hard and knotty and furnished with nu- 
merous short, firm shoots or stolons. In the Eastern States it is util- 
ized as one of the native products of wet meadows in the making of 
what is called wild hay. Specimens have been sent from Colorado and 
Kansas and recommended as an excellent grass for hay. (Plate 46.) 

MuHLENBERGiA COMATA. (Wooly-^ecded Mnhlenbergia.) 

This species is closely related to the preceding. It grows throughout 
the Eocky Mountain region in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Ne- 
vada, and California, usually on tbe sandy or alluvial banks of streams. 
It grows in tufts from firm, creeping root-stocks. There is reason to 
think it may be a valuable grass for arid regions. The culms are erect, 
simple, 2 to 3 feet high, leafv below, the leaves 3 to 6 inches long and 
roughish, the upper one at first inclosing the base of the panicle, the joint 
slightly pubescent. Tlie panicle is 2 to 4 inches long, narrow, and close, 
sometimes interrupted below, generallj' of a purplish lead color and of 
soft texture. The spikelets are nearly sessile, the outer glumes ver^^ 
narrow, acute, nearly equal, one-nerved, one and one-half to two lines 
long. The flowering glume is rather shorter, and surrounded at the 
base by a copious tuft of long, silky hairs. It is also terminated by a 
slender awn three or four times as long as the flower. The palet is 
slightly shorter than its glume and acute.- (Plate 47.) 

MuHLENBERGiA GRACILIS. (Graceful Mnhlenbergia.) 

A perennial grass growing in tufts or loose patches from a creeping 
root- stock, much branched at the base. The culms are erect, much 
branched, slender, and wiry, I to 1^ feet high; the leaves mostly radi- 
cal, involute, and bristle-like, 2 to 6 inches long, scabrous on the edges. 
The panicle is erect or somewhat nodding, 3 to 6 inches long, narrow, 
very loose, the branches erect, rather distant, and mostly single. The 
spikelets are on short pedicels ; the outer glumes unequal, the lower 
one ending abruptly in a slender point, the upper one three-nerved and 
three-toothed, the teeth usually prolonged into short awns ; the flower- 
ing glume is somewhat cylindrical, taper-pointed, and with a straight 
awn about half an inch long ; palet as long as its glume without the 
awn. 

This species, of which there are several varieties, inhabits the arid 
regions of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. It is too small to be 
of much economic importance. (Plate 48.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 63 



Phelum pratense. (Timothy, Herd's grass.) 

This is one of the commonest and best-known grasses. For a hay 
crop it is, perhaps, the most valuable, especially in the Northern States. 
The heighth of the grass depends on the soil and cultivation. In poor 
ground it may be reduced to 1 foot, while in good soil and with good 
culture it readily attains 3 feet, and occasionally has been found twice 
that height. It is a perennial grass with fibrous roots. The base of the 
culm is sometimes thickened and inclined to be bulbous. The culm is 
erect and firm, with four or five leaves, which are erect and usually 
from 4 to G inches long. The flower spike varies from 2 to 6 inches in 
length, is cylindrical and very densely flowered. The spikelets are 
sessile, single-flowered, and cylindrical or oblong in outline. The outer 
glumes are rather wedge-form, with a mucronate point or short bristle. 
The main nerve on the back is fringed with a few short hairs. The 
flowering glume is shorter than the outer ones and thinner, five-nerved, 
and toothed at the apex. The palet is thinner in texture and much 
narrower. 

This grass, as known in cultivation, is supposed to have been intro- 
duced from Europe, but it is nndoubtedly indigenous in the mountain 
regions of New England, New York, and the Eocky Mountains. It is 
said that about the year 1711 a Mr. Herd found this grass in a swamp 
in New Hampshire and cultivated it. From him it took the name of 
Herd's grass. About the year 1720 it was brought to Maryland by 
Timothy Hanson and received the name of Timothy grass. It is now 
the favorite and prevailing meadow grass over a large part of the 
country. 

Mr. Charles L. Flint says : 

As a crop to cut for bay it is probably unsurpassed by any other grass now culti- 
vated. Though somewhat coarse and hard, especially if allowed to ripen its seed, 
yet if cat in the blossom or directly after, it is greatly relished hj all kinds of stock 
and especially so by horses, while it possesses a large percentage of nutritive matter 
in comparison with other agricultural grasses. It is olteu sown with clover, but the 
best practical farmers are beginning to discontinue this custom on account of the dif- 
ferent times of blossoming of the t^wo crops. It grows very readily and yields very 
large crops on favorable soils. It yields a large quautity of seed to the acre, vary- 
ing from 10 to 30 bushels on rich soils. 

(Plate 49.) 

Sporoboltjs Indicus. (Smut grass.) 

This grass is a native of India, but has spread over most tropical and 
warm climates. It occurs more or less abundantly in all the Southern 
States, and is called smut grass, from the fact that after flowering the 
heads become affected with a black smut. It grows in tufts or loose 
patches, is erect, from 1^ to 3 feet high, with an abundance of long, 
flat, fine pointed leaves near the base, and a narrow, terminal panicle 
frequently a foot in length, composed of short, erect, sessile branches, 
which are very closely flowered. The spikelets are narrow, less than a 



64 THE AGRICULTUKAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

line long 5 the outer glumes unequal, tbin, and nerveless, the upper one 
about half as long as the flower, the lower one, still shorter, obtuse or 
truncate ; the flowering glume and palet are of nearlj^ equal length, 
membranaceous, lead-colored, smooth; the glume acute; the palet 
obtuse. 

Professor Phares sajs : 

It grows abundantly and luxuriously on many uncultivated fields and commons, 
and furnishes grazing from April till frost. It thrives under much grazing and many 
mowings, and grows promptly after each if the soil be moist enough. Cattle and 
horses are fond of it if frequently cut or grazed down, but-if allowed to remain un- 
touched long they will not eat it unless very hungry, as it becomes tough and unpal- 
atable and probably difficult to digest. 

Professor Killebrew also speaks favorably of it and recommends it 
for trial under cultivation. (Plate 50.) 

Sporobolus cryptandrus. 

This species grows chiefly in sandy soil. It is stouter than the pre- 
ceding, growing in loose tufts ; the culms frequently bent at the lower 
joints, then rising erect to the height of 2 or 3 feet. The leaves are mostly 
near the base, where tliejoints of the culms are short ;, here the sheaths are 
short and the blades of the leaves 5 to 6 inches long ; the upper sheaths 
become longer and the blades shorter ; the leaves are flat, but become 
involute in dry weather. The top of the sheath is fringed with fine 
soft hairs. The long and narrow panicle is for a long time completely 
inclosed in the very long sheath of the upper leaf, but finally emerges 
except the base and becomes more or less spreading. The full panicle 
is from 6 to 12 inches long, the branches mostly alternate or scattered, 
the lower ones about 1 inch apart and 2 inches long, the ux)per ones 
much closer and shorter, all flowering nearly to their bases with the 
spikelets short stalked and appressed. 

This species is very common in sandy fields in the Northern and 
Southern States, as well as over all the dry plains west of the Missis- 
sippi River, extending from British America to Mexico, where it fur- 
nishes a portion of the wild y)asturage. It deserves observation and 
experiment as to its value. (Plate 51.) 

Sporobolus heterolepis. 

This species grows in dense, firmly-rooted tufts, principally west of the 
Mississippi Rivw, from British America to Texas. The culms are IJ to 
3 feet high, erect, smooth. The radical leaves are very long and nar- 
row ; those of the culm, 3 or 4, with long sheaths and blades, becoming 
involute when dry. The panicle is from 3 to 8 inches long, rather nar- 
row and loose ; the branches, two to three together, slender, and with 
few rather distant flowers. The spikelets are one-flowered, sessile or 
nearly sessile, on the slender branches; they are about two lines long, 
unequal, acutely long-pointed, the lower one a little shorter and the 
upper a little longer than the flower. The flowering glumes and palet 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 65 



are of about equal length aud texture ; the seed is perfectly" round, 
smooth and shining, thick and coriaceous. 

A writer on the grasses of the Eocky Mountains aud i^lains in the 
Agricultural Eeport for 1870 says : 

This species may be identified from its long, slender leaves, growing abundantly 
from the base of the plant, gracefully curving and frequently resting their tips on the 
ground ; from its tendency to grow branches or stools, and when in fruit, from its 
small panicle of sharp-pointed spikelets and its round seeds. These when bruised emit 
a strong, heavy oder, which has been compared to that of Eragrostis megastachya when. 
crushed in the hands; but to most olfactories it is much less offensive, and to some not 
at all disagreeable. It attains to the average height of about 2^ feet in fruit, but in 
dry seasons large tracts almost exclusively composed of this species are without a 
single fruiting plant. It is sometimes cultivated for hay, in the absence of the more 
productive species, and makes an article of fine quality. 

Sporobolus airoides. (Salt grass.) 

Oulms arising from strong perennial creeping root-stalks, 2 to 3 feet 
high, thickened at the base and clothed with numerous long, rigid, gen- 
erally involute, long-pointed leaves, which are smooth and bearded in 
the throat of the sheath, panicle becoming exerted and diffuse, 6 to 12 
inches long, 3 to 4 inches wide ; the branches capillary, scattered, mostly 
single, or in whorls below, the branches subdivided above the middle 
and rather sparsely flowered. 

The spikelets are one-flowered, purplish, on short slender pedicels. 
The outer glumes are unequal, thin, nerveless, or obscurely nerved, ob- 
long, the lower half as long as the upper, the upper one rather shorter 
than the flowering glume, which is about one line long, oblong, obtus- 
ish or minutely dentate at the apex palet about equal to its glume ; 
bidentate. 

A common grass throughout the arid regions of the West, sometimes 
called salt grass, and affording considerable pasturage in some places. 
(Plate 52.) 

Agrostis. (Bent grass.) 

This genus has many species all characterized by having one-flowered 
spikelets; the outer glumes acute, one-nerved, and awnless, nearly equal, 
or the lower rather longer, and longer than the flowering glume, which 
is very thin, three to five nerved, awnless or awned on the back ; jyalet 
shorter than the flowering glume, frequently reduced to a small scale or 
absent. 

Agrostis vulgj^ris. (Red top, Fine top. Herd's grass of Pennsyl- 
vania Borden's grass, Bent grass.) 
A perennial grass, growing 2 or 3 feet high from creeping root-stocks, 
which interlace so as to make a very firm sod the culms are upright, or 
sometimes decumbent at the base, smooth, round, rather slender, and 
clothed with four or five leaves, which are flat, narrow, and roughish, 
from 3 to 6 inches long, with smooth sheaths, and generally truncate 
2218 GR 5 



66 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



ligules. The panicle is oblong in outline, 4 to 6 inches long, open, com- 
posed of eight or ten joints or whorls, the lower branches mostly in 
fives, slender, unequal, the longer ones much subdivided. The spike- 
lets are about a line long, varying from greenish to purple. The outer 
glumes are lanceolate and pointed, nearly alike in size, smooth, except 
tlie more or less roughened keel. The flowering glume is but little 
shorter than the outer ones, tbin and delicate, and occasionally with a 
minute awn on the keel. The palet is narrow, and from half to three 
fourths as long as its glume, and inclosing the floral organs. There are 
several varieties of this grass, which are by some botanists considered 
a distinct species. 

Agrostis alba, the Fiorin grass of Ireland, and Agrostis stolonifera are 
usually considered synonymous, and are distinguished from A. vulgaris 
by having a closer, more verticillated panicle, and with longer and more 
acute ligules. 

Mr. J. G. Gould says of Agrostis vulgaris: 

This is a favorite grass in wet, swampj^ meadows, where its interlacing, thick roots 
consolidate the sward, making a firm matting which prevents the feet of cattle from 
poaching. It is generally considered a valuable grass in this country, though by no 
means the best one. Cattle eat hay made from it with a relish, especially when 
mixed with other grasses. As a pasture grass it is much valued by dairymen, and in 
their opinion the butter would suffer much by its removal. 

Professor Phares, of Louisiana, says respecting this grass : 

It grows well on hill tops and sides, in ditches, gullies, and marshes, but delights 
in moist bottom land. It is not injured by overflows, though somewhat prolonged. 
It furnishes considerable grazing during warm sjiells in winter, and in spring and 
summer an abundant supply of nutrition. Cut before maturing seed, it makes good 
hay and a large quantity. It seems to grow taller in the Southern States than it does 
farther north, and to make more and better hay and grazing. 

Mr. Flint says : 

It is a good permanent grass, standing our climate as well as any other, and con- 
sequently well suited to our pastures, in which it should be fed close ; for if allowed 
to grow up to seed the cattle refuse it; and this seems to show that it is not so much 
relished by stock as some of the other pasture grasses. 

(Plate 53.) 

Agrostis exarata. (^^orthern Ked top, Mountain Eed top.) 

This is chiefly a northern species, being found in Wisconsin and west- 
ward to the Rocky Mountains, also in British America, and California 
to Alaska. It is very variable in appearance, and presents several 
varieties. It is generally more slender in growth than the common red 
toj). The panicle is usually longer, narrower, and looser. In all the 
forms the palet is wanting or is very minute. The form chiefly growing 
on the Pacific slope from California to Alaska is often more robust than 
the A. vulgaris^ growing 2 to 3 feet high, with a stout, firm culm, clothed 
with three or four broadish leaves, 4 to 6 inches long. The panicle is 
4 to 6 inches long, pale green, rather loose, but with erect branches^ 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 67 



The outer glumes are of about equal length, accuminate, rough ou the 
keel. The flowering glume is one- third shorter than the outer ones, 
rather acute, four-nerved, the nerves extended into short points or teeth, 
and rarely with a very short awn on the back. The palet if present is 
very minute, scarcely as long as the ovary. 

There is reason to believe that this grass can be made to supply the 
same valuable place on the Pacific coast that the A. vulgaris does at 
the East, but it requires investigation and experiment. (Plates 54 
and 54a.) 

Agrostis microphylla. 

This is a species belonging to the western coast and the adjacent 
mountains. It is apparently an annual or biennial, frequently with 
several culms springing from one root. The radical leaves are few and 
short. The culms are erect, stiff, 1 J to 3 feet high, with four or five rough 
and rather rigid leaves 3 to 6 inches long, two or three lines wide, and 
gradually pointed. The sheaths are long and roughish. The pan- 
icle is 3 to 5 inches long, erect, spikelike, narrow, and (jensely flowered, 
sometimes interrupted below. The spikelets are densely crowded on 
the short, almost sessile, branches. The outer glumes are slightly un- 
equal, rather more than a line in length ; awn pointed, narrowly lanceo- 
late, scabrous or hispid on the keel. The flowering glume is about half 
as long as the outer glumes, thin, acute, two-toothed at the summit, and 
on the back, about one- third below the apex, furnished with a slender 
awn three times its own length, which is readily seen projecting beyond 
the outer glumes. There is no proper palet or only a microscopic one. 
This grass deserves the attention of those who live in its habitat. It 
may prove a useful species. (Plate 55.) 

Agrostis canina. (Dog's Bent Grass, Mountain Eed top.) 

A grass usually of low size, 6 to 12 inches high, with slender culms, 
and a light, flexible, expanded panicle, growing in elevated regions or 
in high latitudes, and with a perplexing variety of forms. The radical 
leaves are numerous, but short and narrow. The culm has two or three 
fine short leaves, 1 or 2 inches long, the ligule acute, short but con- 
spicuous. The panicle is pyramidal in form, 3 or 4 inches long, of few 
capillary branches, which are in pairs, horizontal in flower, more erect 
and close in frait, dividing near the extremities into a few sparsely flow- 
ered branchlets. The spikelets are on short, fine pedicels j the outer 
glumes nearly equal, ovate and acute, one to one-half line long; the 
flowering glume is about a quarter shorter than the outer ones, thin, 
smooth, obtuse, and bearing on the back, about the middle, a fine, 
straight awn about two lines long; the palet is so minute as to be hardly 
Adsible to the naked eye. 

There are several varieties of this grass growing in mountainous re- 
gions throughout the United States and in Europe. It forms a close 
sod, and aflbrds considerable pasturage in those regions. (Plate 50.) 



I 



68 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. ' 

PoLYPOGON MONSPELiENSis. (Beard grass.) ^ 

An annual grass frequent in California, Oregon, Arizona, Texas, and | 
Utah, and sometimes fonnd on the Atlantic coast. It is a native of \ 
Europe. The culms are from 6 inches to 2 feet high, rather stout, apt 
to be procumbent at the base, and often branching below. There are j 
usually three or four leaves on the culm, which are broad, flat, 3 to 6 j 
inches long, and somewhat rougli j the sheaths are rather loose and ' 
striate, and the ligule long and obtuse. The panicle varies from 1 to 4 
inches in length, contracted into a dense cylindrical spike, of a shining, ' 
yellowish -green color, the long awns or beards of the flowers being very 
conspicuous. The spikelets are one-flowered, about one line long. The ! 
outer glumes are nearly equal, one-nerved pubescent, notched at the : 
apex, the midnerve extended into a slender awn or beard from two to 
four times as long as the glume. The flowering glume is about half as 
long as the outer ones, thiu, toothed at the apex, and usually having a i 
fine awn about one line long; the palet is smaller, thin, delicate, and i 
without an awn. ^ It is quite an ornamental grass, but of little agricult- 
ural value. (Plate 57.) 

OiNNA AKUNDINACEA. (Wood Eccd grass.) 

A perennial grass, with erect, simple culms from 3 to 6 feet high, with 
a creeping rhizoma; growing in swamps and moist, shaded woods in the 
northern or mountainous districts. The leaves are broadly linear-lan- 
ceolate, about 1 foot long, four to six lines wide, and with a conspicuous 
elongated ligule. The panicle is from 6 to 12 inches long, rather loose 
and oi)en in the flower, afterwards more close. The branches are four 
or five together below, about 2 inches long, above in tAvos or threes and 
shorter. The spikelets are one-flowered, much flattened, rather crowded 
on the branches, frequently purple colored. The glumes are linear-lan- 
ceolate, roughish, acute, and strongly keeled, mostly three-nerved, firm 
in texture, about two lines long, the lower rather the shorter. The flower 
is short-stalked within the glumes ; the flowering glume is as long as 
the outer ones, and of the same texture, rather scabrous and three- 
nerved, and usually with a very short awn near the apex. The palet 
is rather shorter than its glume, thin and membranaceous, except on 
the green somewhat rough nerve. This is one of the very rare cases in 
which the true palet has only a simple nerve, probably, Mr. Bentham 
says, by the consolidation of two. There is but one stamen. 

This leafy-stemmed grass furnishes a large quantity of fodder, but 
experiments are wanting to determine its availability under cultiva- 
tion. (Plate 58.) 

There is another species, Cinna pendula, which is more slender, with 
a looser drooping panicle and more capillary branches, and with thinner 
glumes. It occurs in the same situations as the preceding, and is more 
common in the Eocky Mountains and Oregon. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 69 



Deyeuxia (Oalamagrostis.) 

This genus is characterized by having one-flowered spikelets, with the 
addition at the base of the flowering glume of a small hairy appendage or 
pedicel, which is considered to be the rudiment of a second flower. In 
addition to this the flower is also generally surrounded at the base with 
a ring of soft hairs, and the flowering glume usually bears an awn on 
its back, which is generally bent and twisted. Our species have been 
until recently included in the genus Calamagrostis, which is principally 
a very similar European genus. 

Deyeuxia (Oalamagrostis) Canadensis. (Blue Joint, Small Eeed 

grass.) 

A stout, erect, tall perennial grass, growing chiefly in wet, boggy 
ground or in low, moist meadows. Its favorite situation is in cool, ele- 
vated regions. It prevails in all the northern portions of the United 
States, in the Eocky MountainSj and in British America. In those dis- 
tricts it is one of the best and most productive of the indigenous grasses. 
It varies much in luxuriance of foliage and size of panicle, according 
to the location. The culms are from 3 to 5 feet high, stout and hollow, 
hence in some places it is called the small reed-grass. The leaves are 
a foot or more long, flat, from a quarter to nearly half an inch wide, 
and roughish ; the stem and sheaths smooth. 

The panicle is oblong in outline, open, and somewhat spreading, es- 
pecially during flowering; it is from 4 to 6 or even 8 inches in length, 
and 2 or 3 inches in diameter, of a purplish color; the branches are 
mostly in fives at intervals of an inch or less. These branches vary in 
length from 1 to 3 inches, the long ones flowering only toward the ex- 
tremity. The spikelets are short-stalked, the outer glumes about one 
and one-half lines long, lanceolate and acute ; the silky white hairs at 
the base of the flowering glume, are about as long as the glume; those 
on the sterile pedicel also nearly as long. The flowering glume is thin 
and delicate, about as long as the outer glumes, and somewhat finely 
toothed at the apex, three to five nerved, and bearing on the back, be- 
low the middle, a delicate awn, reaching about to the point of the glume, 
and not much stouter than the hairs. The proper palet is thin, oblong, 
and about two-thirds the length of its glume. 

Mr. J. S. Gould says : 

It constitutes about one-tliird of the natural grasses on tlie Beaver Dam Meadows 
of the Adirondaclis. It is certain that cattle relish it very nuich, both iu its green 
state and when made into hay, and it is equally certain that the farmers who have 
it on their farms believe it to be one of the best grasses of their meadows. 

(Plate 59.) 

Deyeuxia sylvatica. (Bunch grass.) 

A coarse perennial grass, growing in large tufts, usually in sandy 
ground in the Eocky Mountains at various altitudes, also iu California, 



70 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Oregou, and Biitisli America. It furnislies an abundant coarse forage 
in the regions where it is found. The culms are from 1 to 2 feet high, 
€rect, rigid, and leafy ; the radicle leaves are frequently as long as the 
culm, two or three lines wide, sometimes flat, but generally involute 
and rigid. The culm leaves are from 3 to G or 8 inches long, rigid and 
rough. The panicle is narrow and spike-like, 3 to 5 inches long, erect, 
rather dense, sometimes interrupted below, and varying from pale green 
to purple. The branches are mostly in fives, very short and rough. 
The spikelets are about a quarter of an inch long, on short, rough pedi- 
cels ; the outer glumes are nearly equal, ovate-lanceolate, long and sharp 
IDointed, the upper one three-nerved, the lower one-nerved. The flower- 
ing glume is about one-third shorter, of similar texture, three-nerved, 
four-toothed at the apex, and bearing on the back a twisted and bent 
awn longer than the'glume. The hairs at the base are scanty and short, 
those of the rudiment about half as long as the flower. The palet is 
about half as long as its glume, thin, two-nerved, and two tooth,ed at 
the apex. (Plate 60.) 

Deyeuxia Howellii. (HowelPs grass.) 

Culms densely tufted, 1 to 2 feet high, erect or somewhat geniculate 
below, smooth ; radical leaves numerous, as long as the culm, firm, but 
not rigid, inclined to be involute, the ligule conspicuous, about one and 
one-half lines long, scarious ; culm with three or four leaves which are 
4 to 6 inches long, the upper one nearly equaling the culm. Panicle 
pyramidal, loose and spreading, 3 to 4 inches long, the branches mostly 
in fives, the lower ones 1 to 1^ inches long, numerously flowered above 
the middle. Spikelets pale green or tinged with purple, outer glumes 
lanceolate, acute, two and one-half to three lines long, nearly equal, 
membranaceous, the upper three-nerved, the lower one-nerved ; flower- 
ing glume slightly shorter than the outer ones, lanceolate, acute, three 
to five nerved, the apex bifid, usuallj^ with four mucronate points, a 
conspicuous strong awn one-half inch long, inserted on the back about 
the lower third, a tuft of short hairs, and a hairy pedicel about half as 
long as the floret ; palet nearly as long as its glume, thin, acute, and 
two-toothed at the apex. 

This grass has recently been discovered in Oregon by Mr. T. J. Howell, 
and also in Washington Territory by INIr. W. N. Suksdorf. From its 
habit of growth and the great abundance of foliage, it gives promise 
of being a valuable grass for cultivation. (Plate 61.) 

Ammophila. 

This genus differs very little from Deyeuxia^ but chiefly in the absence 
of the awn on the back of the flowering glume. 

Ammophila arundinacea. (Sea-sand reed. Beach grass,, Mat grass.) 

This is the Calaniagrostis arenaria of the olden books. The entire 
Ijlant is of a whitish or pale-green color. It grows on sandy beaches 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 71 



of the Atlantic at least as far south as isTorth Carolina, ai^cl on the shores 
of the Great Lakes, but has not so far been recorded from the Pacific 
coast. It also grows on the sea-coast of the British Isles and of Europe. 
It forms tufts of greater or less extent, its long creeping roots ex- 
tending sometimes to the extent of 40 feet, and bearing tubers the size 
of a pea, iuterlaced with death-like tenacity of grasp, and form a net- 
work beneath the sand which resists the most vehement assaults of 
the ocean waves." The culms are from 2 to 3 feet high, rigid and solid ; 
the leaves long, involute, smooth, rigid, and slender-pointed ; the pan- 
icle dense, 6 to 10 inches long, close and spike-like ; the spikelets are 
about half an inch long, compressed, crowded on the very short branch- 
lets. The outer glumes are nearly equal, five to six lines long, com- 
pressed, lanceolate, chartaceous, smooth except on the thin keelj the flow- 
ering glume is a little shorter, acute or slightly mucronate at the tip, 
obscurely five-nerved ^ the palet about as long as its glume, two-keeled. 
The hairs at the base are rather scanty, and about one-third as long as 
the floweriug glume ; the hairy pedicel is of about the same length. 
This grass has no agricultural value, but from time immemorial its util- 
ity in binding together the loose sands of the beach and restraining the 
inroads of the ocean has been recognized and provided for in some 
places by law. Mr. Flint, in his work on grasses, says that the town 
and harbor of Provincetown, once called Cape Cod, where the Pilgrims 
first landed, one of the largest and most important harbors in the United 
States, sufficient in depth for ships of largest size, and in extent to anchor 
three thousand vessels at once, owe their preservation to this grass. 
The usual way of propagating the grass is by transplanting the roots. 
The grass is pulled up by hand and placed in a hole about a foot deep 
and the sand pressed around it .by the foot. There are undoubtedly 
many places on the sea-coast where this grass would be of inestimable 
value in restraining the encroachment of the ocean. It would also be 
useful in forming a dense turf for the protection of dikes and banks 
subject to water-washing. 

Ammophila longifolia. 

This grass, formerly called Calamagrostis longifolia, has recently been 
transferred by Mr. Bentham to genus Ammophila. It grows on the 
sandy plains ofthe interior from British America to Arizona, and on the 
borders ofthe Great Lakes. It has strong running root-stalks, like the 
preceding, but is much taller, the culms being 3 to 6 feet high, stout 
and reed-like ; the leaves long, rigid, and becoming involute, with a long 
thread-like point. The panicle is quite variable, from 4 to 16 inches long, 
at first rather close, but becoming open and spreading, the branches in 
the smaller forms being 2 or 3 inches long, and in the larger ones often 
10 or 12 inches and widely spreading. The outer glumes are lanceolate, 
unequal, smooth, and chartaceous, the upper one three to four lines long, 
the lower about one-fourth shorter. 



72 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The flowering glume and x^alet are of equal length and similar texture 
with the longest outer glume ; the copious hairs at the base are more 
than half as long as the flower. There is no sterile pedicel or rudiment. 
This grass is too coarse to be of much agricultural value, but would be 
useful for the same purposes as the preceding. 

Deschampsia. (Aira of the books.) 

This genus has two-flowered spikelets, the upper flower usually small- 
er than the lower, generally in a loose panicle with slender branches. 
The axis or stem connecting the two flowers is hairy, and is extended 
into a hairy pedicel which rarely bears an empty glume or rudiment of 
another flower. The outer glumes are keeled, rather thin, and with 
scarious margins; the flowering glumes have a fine awn on the back 
below the middle. 

Deschampsia c^spitosa [aira ccvspitosa). (Hair grass.) 

This is an exceedingly variable species, having a very wide distribu- 
tion in this and other countries. It is somewhat rare east of the Mis- 
sissippi, but on the elevated plains and in the Eocky Mountains, also 
in California and Oregon, it is one of the common bunch grasses which 
afford pasturage to cattle and horses. In the East it is found in the 
hilly regions of ]S^ew England and the Alleghanies. 

The culms form tussocks, are smooth, and grow from 2 to 4 feet high ; 
the root leaves are very numerous, generally flat, narrow, and from 6 
inches to a foot long; those of the culm about 2, and from 1 to 3 inches 
long ; the ligule is conspicuous and pointed. The panicle is generally 
pyramidal, 4 to 6 or sometimes 10 inches long, the branches distant, 1 
to 3 inches long ; capillary and spreading, the lower ones in fives, those 
above two or three together, or single, and are flower-bearing mostly 
above the middle. The spikelets are smooth, on slender pedicels, and are 
about two lines long. The empty glumes are membranaceous, purple, 
or yellowish, nearly equal, the upper one a little the longer and about 
as long as the flowers ; the flowering glumes are oblong, toothed at the 
obtuse apex, thin, scarious margined and delicately nerved ; from the 
back near the base proceeds a slender awn about as long as the glume. 
The palets are similar in texture, narrow, two-nerved and two-toothed 
at the apex. 

The panicle is very handsome, presenting a purple or glossy hue and 
a loose graceful appearance. 

We know very little as to the value of this grass. It may be found 
worthy of cultivation in the arid interior districts. (Plate 62.) 

Deschampsia flexuosa. (Wood hair grass.) 

A perennial grass, growing in tufts on rocky hills or in sandy woods. 
The culms are slender, IJ to 2 feet h.igh, and smooth. The leaves are 
mostly from the root, very numerous, very narrow, involute, and 6 to 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 

32 inches long. Tlie panicle is rather looser, and with longer, more 
naked branches, and fewer flowers than the preceding species. The 
branches are two to three together at the joints 5 the spikelets are of 
about the same size, on longer pedicels, the awn of the flowering glume 
about half longer, becoming bent and twisted. Sheep are fond of this 
grass, and where they have access to it, gnaw it close to the ground. 
It affords, however, but a small amount of feed, and is undeserving of 
cultivation. 

Deschampsia danthonioides. {Aira danthonioides.) 

A slender annual grass, common in Oregon and California, growing 
in moist meadows, where, according to Mr. Bolander, it often forms a 
large portion of the herbage. 

From its slender culms and small leaves it cannot furnish a large bulk 
of hay. The culms vary from 3 inches to a foot or 2 in height, some- 
times bent and branching at the base. The leaves are 1 or 2 inches 
long and very narrow ; the upper sheaths are Very long. The panicle 
is loose, very slender, erect, usually 2 to 5 inches long, the lower 
branches in twos or threes, the upper ones in pairs or solitary, distant, 
appressed, branching from below the middle, and two-flowered. The 
spikelets are on slender pedicels. The outer glumes are about three 
lines long, lanceolate, gradually sharp-pointed, three-nerved, and slightly 
*roughed on the keel. The two flowers are together, shorter than the 
outer glumes, being each about one line long, with a small tuft of silky 
-white hairs at the base. The flowering glumes have a truncated apex 
with four small teeth, and the awn, which is inserted on the back about 
the middle, is three or four times as long as the glume, and usually more 
or less twisted and bent. (Plate 63.) 

HoLCUS LANATUS. (Yclvet grass, Meadow Soft grass. Velvet Mes- 

quite grass.) 

A foreign grass, which has been introduced and has become tolerably 
well established in many places. It is a perennial, with a stout, erect 
culm, 2 to 3 feet high, the leaves, and especially the sheaths, densely 
clothed with soft hairs feeling like velvet. The culm is leafy and the 
sheaths loose ; the upper ones longer than the blade, which is three to six 
lines wide, 4 to 5 inches long, and rather abruptly pointed. The panicle 
is open and spreading, rather oblong in outline, and 4 to 6 inches long. 
The branches are mostly in twos or threes, much divided, and softly 
pubescent. The spikelets are two-flowered, the lower one being the 
larger and containing both stamens and pistils, the upper one small 
and staminate only. The outer glumes are about two lines long, mem- 
branaceous, boat-shaped, sparingly pubescent, and white, the upper one 
broader and three nerved, the lower one-nerved, both much longer than 
the flowers. The flowering glumes are smooth and shining, thicker 



74 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



than the outer glumes, the lower flower awnless, the upper one with a 
short, stout, bent, or hooked awn at the apex. 

This grass is not held in good repute as an agricultural grass in 
Europe. In this country, especially at the South, it has frequently 
been favorably spoken of. Professor Phares says : 

It luxuriates in moist, peaty lands, but will grow on poor, sandy, or clay liill lands, 
and produce remunerative crops where few other plants will make anything. It has 
been cultivated in North Carolina on such land, and after cutting and allowed to grow 
again, plowed under with so much advantage that other crops were subsequently 
produced. Hon. H. W. L. Lewis, of Louisiana, has cultivated this grass many years 
with great satisfaction. It is by no means the best of our grasses, but best for some 
lands, and on such lands more profitable than other grasses. It seems to have been 
greatly improved by acclimating in Texas and other Southern States, and this is 
true of some of the other grasses and forage plants. 

(Plate 64.) 
Trisetum. 

This genus is charactt^rized as haviug the spikelets two to three and, 
rarely, five flowered, the axis usually hairy, and at the base of the upper 
flower extended into a bristle; the outer glumes unequal, acute, keeled, 
membranaceous, with scarious margins; the flowering glumes of similar 
texture keeled, acute, the apex two-toothed, the teeth sometimes pro- 
longed into bristle-like points, the central nerve furnished with an awn 
above the middle, which is usually twisted and bent in the middle; the 
palet hyaline, narrow, two-nerved, two-toothed. 

Trisetum palustre. 

A slender grass, usually about 2 feet high, growing in low meadows or 
moist ground throu^ihout the Eastern part of the United States. The 
culms are smooth, with long iuternodes and few linear leaves, 2 to 4 inches 
long; the panicle is obloug, 3 to 4 inches long, loose and gracefully 
drooping, the branches two to five together, rather capillar^', 1 to 1^ 
inches long, and loosely flowered; the spikelets are two-flowered; the 
outer glumes are about two lines long, the lower one one-nerved, the 
upper rather obovate and three-nerved; the' lower flower is commonly 
awnless or only tipped with a short awn ; the second flower is rather 
shorter and with a slender, spreading awn longer than the flower. 

This is a nutritious grass, but is seldom found in sufficient quantity 
to be of much value. (Plate 65.) 

Trisetum cernuu3i. 

This grass grows to the height of 2 or 3 feet, with flat wide leaves, 
which are about 6 inches long, and with an open, spreading, and droop- 
ing panicle, 6 to 9 inches long; the branches are slender, solitary, or 
sometimes clustered below, and much subdivided above the middle. 
The spikelets vary from three to six lines in length -and have two to three 
or, rarely, four flowers in each. The outer glumes are very unequal, the 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 75 



lower one being very narrow and awl-shapecl, the upper one broad, three- 
nerved, obtuse, and tipped with a fine j)oint, and longer, sometimes twice 
as long as the lower. 

The flowering glume has two slender pointed teeth, and on the back, 
near the apex, a slender awn twice its length. 

Of this grass Mr. Bolander says that it deserves further attention. 
It grows on dry hill-sides near the Bay of San Francisco and the Oak- 
land hills, and also extends northward to Oregon. (Plate 66.) 

TmSETUM SUBSPICATUM. 

A perennial grass of the mountainous regions of Europe and North 
America. It is found sparingly in New England, on the shores of Lake 
Superior, in the Kocky Mountains of Colorado, Utah, California, Oregon, 
and northward to the Arctic circle. It varies in height according to the 
altitude at which it grows, being sometimes reduced to 3 or 4 inches, at 
other times running up to 2 feet high. The culms are erect and firm, 
smooth, or downy. The panicle is spike-like, dense, and cylindrical or 
elongated, and more or less interrui)ted, generally of a purplish color. 
The spikelets are two to three flowered. The flowers are slightly longer 
than the outer glumes, slightly scabrous, the flowering glumes acutely 
two toothed at the apex, and bearing a stout awn which is longer than 
its glume. 

This undoubtedly furnishes a considerable portion of mountain pas- 
turage. (Plate 67.) 

A VENA. (Oats and Oat grass.) 

This genus is closely related to THsetiwi, the spikelets are larger and 
two to five flowered, the uppermost one generally imperfect; the axis is 
hairy below the flowers, the outer glumes nearly equal ; the flowering 
glumes of firmer texture (in some species cartilaginous), shortly two- 
toothed at the apex, and with a long twisted awn below the point. 

Ayena fatua. (Wild oats.) 

This species is very common in California. It is generally thought 
to have been introduced from Europe, where it is native, but it has be- 
come diffused over many other countries, including Australia and South 
America. It is thought by some to be the original of the cultivated 
oat, Avena sativa^ that the common oat will degenerate into the wild 
oat, and that by careful cultivation and selection of seed the wild oat 
can be changed into the common cultivated oat. But on this question 
there is a conflict of opinions, and the alleged facts are not sufficiently 
established. The wild oat difi'ers from the cultivated one chiefly in 
having more flowers in the spikelets, in the long brown hairs which 
cover the flowering glumes, in the constant presence of the long twisted 
awn, and in the smaller size and lighter weight of the grain. It is a 
great injury to any grain-field in which it ma3^ be introduced, but for 



76 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 



the purpose of fodder, of which it makes a good quality, it has been 
much employed in California. 

It is stated above ''that the common cultivated oat is believed some- 
times to degenerate into the wild oat." The following case, described 
by Mr. J. G. Pickett, of Pickett's Station, Wis., certainly seems to 
afford evidence to that effect. The circumstance can only be other- 
wise accounted for by supposing the accidental introduction of the wild 
oat through seed obtained from some foreign source. It also shows 
how easily this pest is spread after once being introduced into a field. 
Mr. Pickett writes as follows : 

Inclosed I send yoii specimens of a plant known in this section as wild oats. The 
history of the plant is as follows : In the year 1856 Mr. Lucius Hawley, of this town, 
threshed with a machine about 15 acres of common white oats from the stack, upon 
the ground where the crop grew. The straw was indifferently piled up, and so re- 
mained through the winter. In the following spring the straw was set on fire, but 
being wet w^as but partially burned, and what remained was scattered over about an 
acre of ground, and, with the balance of the field, was plowed under, and the field 
sown to spring wheat. At harvest time the threshing ground and the land upon 
which the partially burned straw had been drawn was found to be completely occu- 
pied by a crop of oats, and so thick upon the ground as to have completely smothered 
the wheat. Mr. Hawley, supposing the oats were from those of the former crop, did 
not examine the grain closely, but cut the wheat and oats with a reaper, at the same 
time keeping the grains separate as much as possible, and he did not discover until 
stacking the grain that the oats were not the common oats, but something different 
from any he had se<m before. The oats ripening early, had shelled upon the reaper, 
and were carried more or less over the entire field, and a crop of spring wheat again 
following, the new oats were found scattered over the whole field. This was the first 
known of this pest here, and up to this time (March, 1882) it has continued to spread 
over the country by being mixed with seed wheat and oats, and transported from 
farm to farm by threshing-machines until the damage done can hardly be estimated- 
It will effectually run out any crop and take entire possession of the soil. Seeding 
down the land for three or four years will eradicate the grain, and this is the only 
remedy yet found. This oat is a winter grain and will not germinate and grow until 
it has laid in or upon the ground over winter and been frozen. I have knov/n a field 
of 40 acres sown in the spring with clean wheat seed and nothing else, from which 
was threshed 600 bushels of these oats, and wheat about equaling the amount of seed 
sown. The oat, while growing, looks precisely like the common oat, but ripens early 
and shells easily. The kernel, when ripe, is nearly black, and has attached to it a 
spiral barbed tail, by which it attaches itself to clothing, grain-bags, and to every 
crevice about a threshing-machine, fanning-raill, or reaper, and will even penetrate 
the skins of animals. When cleaned the grain weighs from 12 to 18 pounds per 
bushel, and it is only used by finely grinding the grain for stock, or by cutting, before 
ripening, for hay, of which it makes a good quality. My own theory of its origin is 
that by the action of fire and the winter exposure the common oat on the farm of Mr. 
Hawley changed its variety and nature into this wild winter oat, which is now the 
worst pest this part of Wisconsin has yet known. 

(Plate 68.) 

AvENA STRIATA. (Wild oat grass.) 

Grows on rocky hills in ^^ew England, Kew York, and northwest- 
ward. The culms are about 2 feet high, smooth and slender. The 
leaves are narrow and 4 to 6 inches long ; the panicle is slender, 4 to 5 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 



inches long, open and drooping ; the npper branches are single and un- 
divided, each with a single spikelet, the lower branches are in twos or 
threes, with longer pedicels, and sometimes having two or three spikelets. 
The spikelets are one-half to three-fourths Inchlong, and from three to six 
flowered. The outer glumes are much shorter than the spikelet, thin, 
scarious on the margins, acute, and purplish. Each of the flowers has 
a short tuft of hairs at the base. The lower palet is four lines long, 
seven nerved, sharx)ly two toothed at the ai)ex, just below which rises 
a slender bent awn. All the flowers of the spikelet are alike, except 
that the upper ones are smaller. This grass is related to the cultivated 
oats. Its range is to the northward, being addicted to a cool, elevated 
country. Its productiveness and value for agricultural purposes has not 
been tested. (Plate 69.) 

Arena 2)ratensis and Arena Jiavescens are two species of Europe, which 
have been cultivated to some extent in that country, but are little 
known here. 

AIIEHENATHEEU3I AVENACEUii. (Evergreen grass, Tall oat grass, 

Meadow oat grass.) 
A perennial grass of strong, vigorous growth, introduced from Europe, 
and sparingly cultivated. Culms, 2 to 4 feet high, erect, rather stout, 
with four or five leaves each ; the sheaths smooth, the leaves somewhat 
rough on the upper surface, 6 to 10 inches long, and about three lines 
wide, gradually pointed. The panicle is loose, rather contracted, from 
& to 10 inches long, and rather drooping ; the branches very unequal, 
mostly in fives, the longer ones 1 to 3 inches, and subdivided from about 
the middle ; the smaller branches very short, all rather full-flowered. 
The spikelets are mostly on sliort pedicels. The structure of the flowers 
is similar to that of common oats, but different in several particulars. 
The spikelets consist of two flowers, the lower of which is staminate 
only, the upper one both staminate and i^istillate ; the outer glomes are 
thin and transparent, the upper one about four lines long and three- 
nerved, the lower one nearly three lines long and one-nerved. The 
flowering glume is about four lines long, green, strongly seven-nerved, 
lanceolate, acute, hairy at base, roughish, and in the lower flower gives 
rise on the back below the middle to a long, twisted, and bent awn; in 
the upper flower the glume is merely bristle-pointed near the apex. 
The palet is thin and transparent, linear, and two-toothed. This grass 
is much valued on the continent of Europe. The herbage is very pro- 
ductive and its growth rapid. When growing with other grasses cattle 
and sheep eat it very well, but do not like to be confined to it exclu- 
sively. 

Mr. Thomas Brigden, of South Lowell, Ala., says, respecting this 
grass : 

We obtained seed from the Tennessee Valley under the name of evergreen grass, and 
it appt-ars at the present time to be by far the most valuable kind that we have ex- 



78 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



perimeiited with ; it remains green during the winter, and starts into growth very 
early in the spring, making a dense, heavy growth from 20 to 30 inches high, and, as 
far as at present tested, it stands the summer heat well. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

It is widely naturalized and well adapted to a great variety of soils. On sandy or 
gravelly soils it succeeds admirably, growing 2 to 3, feet high. On rich, dry upland 
it grows from 5 to 7 feet high. It has an abundance of perennial, long fibrous roots 
penetrating deeply in the soil, being therefore less affected by drought or cold, and 
enabled to yield a large quantity of foliage, winter and summer. These advantages 
render it one of the very best grasses for the South, both for grazing, being evergreen, 
and for hay, admitting of being cut twice a year. It is probably the best winter 
grass that can be obtained. It will make twice as much hay as timothy. To make good 
hay it must be cut as soon as it blooms, and after cut, must not be wet by dew or 
rain, which damages it greatly in quality and appearance. For green soiling it may 
be cut four or five times with favorable seasons. In from six to ten days after bloom- 
ing the seeds begin to ripen and fall, the. upper ones first. It is therefore a little 
troublesome to save the seed. As soon as those at the top of the panicle ripen suffi- 
ciently to begin to drop the seeds should be cut off and dried, when the seeds will 
all thresh out readily and be matured. After the seeds are ripe and taken off the long? 
abundant leaves and stems are still green, and being mowed make good hay. It may 
be sown in March or April and mowed the same season ; but for heavier yield it is 
better to sow in September or October. Not less than 2 bushels (14 pounds, per acre 
should be sown. The average annual nutriment yielded by this grass in the southern 
belt is probably twice as great as in Pennsylvania and other Northern States. 

Mr. Charles L. Flint says : 

It produces an abundant supply of foliage, and is valuable for pastures on account 
of its early and luxurious growth. It grows spontaneously on deep, sandy soils when 
once naturalized. It has been cultivated to some extent in New England, and was 
at one time highly esteemed, mainly for its early, rapid and late growth, making 
it well calculated as a permanent pasture grass. It will succeed on tenacious clover 
soils. 

(Plate 70.) 
Danthonia. 

This genus is related to Avena and characterized as follows: Spikelets 
three to five or many-tlowered, the axis hairy and produced beyond the 
flowers in a stipe or imperfect flower; outer glumes narrow, keeled, 
acute, usually as long as the spikelet; flowering glumes of firmer tex- 
ture, convex on the back, seven to nine nerved, with two rigid or scarious 
terminal teeth or lobes, and with a flatish, twisted, and bent awn be- 
tween the teeth. This awn is composed by the union of the middle and 
two of the lateral nerves. 

Danthonia spicata. (Spiked Wild Oat grass.) 

This species grows in small clumps on barren hills or in poor clay 
lands. The leaves are mostly in a tuft near the ground, short, narrow, 
and curled in dry weather. The culms are from to 2 feet high, erect 
and slender. The panicle is only an inch or two long, mostly simple, 
and of four to seven spikelets, with very short pedicels. The spikelets 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 79 

are about five-flowered, the flowering g'liime loosel}' hairy, with the teeth 
about one-fourth its length and very acute. 

It is a grass of very little value. 

Hon. J. S. Gould says : 

As it will grow on hard clay lands where nothing else will, it might be worth while 
to sow its seeds on such lands, as it is certainly better than nothing ; but the better 
plan is to manure the soil so that it will produce the richer grasses. 

(Plate 71.) 

Danthonia comfressa. (Mountain Oat grass.) 

This species grows in Pennsylvania, New York, and New England. 
Mr. 0. G. Pringle sends it from Y ermont growing on dry hillocks along 
the Waterbury Eiver. It also grows on the summit of the Eoan 
Mountains, North Carolina, over large areas, and furnishes good sum- 
mer pasturage. Probably it occurs on the other mountains of the Al- 
leghany range. It differs from the preceding in forming a compact sod, 
by having more numerous and larger leaves, by a larger, longer, and 
spreading panicle, and by the longer, more slender awn-pointed teeth 
of the flowering glumes. (Plate 72.) 

Danthonla. SERICEA. (Silky-flowered, Oat grass.) 

A. jjerennial grass, 2 to 3 feet high, growing in open, sandy woods, 
with numerous long, slender, radical leaves, and three or four similar 
ones on the stem, the sheaths soft, hairy the ligule a mere hmry fringe; 
culms smooth, flexible; panicle loose and rather contracted, 3 to 4 
inches long, and 1 or 2 inches wide ; the branches single at the joints, 
and subdivided from the lower third into a few branchlets, each with 
one to three spikelets. The spikelets are about seven-flowered, the 
flowers closely packed and silky hairy; the outer glumes are smooth, 
half an inch or more in length, longer than all the flowers in the spike- 
let, linear-lanceolate, the lower one two-nerved and the upper one 
three-nerved. The flowering glumes are about three lines long, five to 
seven nerved, the awl-pointed teeth very slender and nearly as long as 
the rest of the glume, with the middle awn six or seven lines long, 
sparsely hairy on the back, and copiously white silky on the margins 
below. This species appears to be confined to the Atlantic States. Its 
value has not been tested. (Plate 73.) 

Danthonia Californica. (The California Oat grass.) 

A perennial grass of California, Oregon, the Eocky Mountains, and 
Manitoba; not very common, variable in height, usually 1 to 2 feet, with 
narrow, convolute and long-pointed root-leaves, those of the culm some- 
what wider, 3 or 4 inches long, the lower sheaths hairy, especially at the 
throat. The panicle usually consists of three to five spreading branches, 
each of which is terminated by a single spikelet. The spikelets are five 
to seven flowered, widening upwards. The outer glumes are about 
three-quarters of an inch long, linear-lanceolate, acute, five to seven 



80 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



nerved, and purplish. The flowers are somewhat crowded on the axis. 
The flowering glumes are broad, obscurely nine-nerved, smooth on the 
back, the margins below fringed with long, silky hairs, the narrow, 
stiff, awned-teeth about half as long as the glumes (four or five lines). 
This is a somewhat ornamental grass, but probably not of much agri- 
cultural value. (Plate 74.) 

Cynodon dactylon. (Bermuda grass.) 

A low, creeping perennial grass, with abundant short leaves at the 
base, sending up slender, nearly leafless flower stalks or culms, which 
have three to five slender, diverging spikes at the summit. The spike- 
lets are sessile in two rows on one side of the slender spikes; they each 
have one flower with a short x)ediceled, naked rudiment of a second 
flower; the outer glumes nearly equal, keeled ; the flowering glume boat- 
shaped, broader and i^rominently keeled ; the palet narrow and two- 
keeled. This grass is a native of Southern Europe and of all tropical 
countries. It is a common pasture grass in the West Indies. In the 
Southern States it has long been a chief reliance for pasture, has been 
extravagantly praised by some and cursed by others who find it diffi- 
cult to eradicate when once established. Its properties have been very 
fully discussed in Southern journals. It rarely ripens any seed, and the 
usual methods of reproducing is to chop up the roots with a cutting 
knife, sow them broadcast, and plow under shallow. 

Ool. T. G. Howard, of Georgia, says : 

The desideratum to the South is a grass that is perennial, nutritious, and adapted 
to the climate. While we have grasses and forage plants that do well when nursed, 
we have few that live and thrive here as in their native habitafc. The Bermuda and 
crab grasses are at home in the South. They not only live, but live in spite of neg- 
lect, and when p totted and encouraged they make such grateful returns as astonish 
the benefactor. 

Professor Killebrew, of Tennessee, says : 

In Louisiana, Texas, and the South generally it is and has been the chief reliance 
for pasture for a long time, and the immense herds of cattle on the southern prairies 
subsist principally on this food. It revels in sandy soils, and has been grown ex- 
tensively on the sandy hills of Virginia and North and South Carolma. It is used 
extensively on the southern rivers tq hold the levees and embankments of the roads. 
It will throw its runners over a rock 6 feet across and soon hide it from view, or it 
will run down the sides of the deepest gully and stop its washing. Hogs thrive upon 
its succulent roots, and horses and cattle upon its foliage. It has the capacity to 
withstand any amount of heat and drought, and months that are so dry as to check 
the growth of blue grass will only make the Burmuda green and the more thrifty. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

As a permanent pasture grass, I know of no other that I consider so valuable as this, 
after having transferred it from near the mouth of the Red River to my present re- 
sidence thirty-five years ago, and having studied it on hundreds of other farms, com- 
mons, and levees for a longer period. To make good hay and the largest yield, this 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 



grass must be mowed from three to five times every summer. Thus briers, broom 
grass, and other weeds are repressed and prevented from seeding, multiplying, and 
ruining the meadow. 

Eespecting the difficulty of eradicatiug this grass from ground wanted 
for other cultivation, Colonel Lane, of Georgia, says : 

Upou our ordinary upland I have found no difficulty in destroying it by close cul- 
tivation in cotton for two years. It requires a few extra plowings to get the sod thor- 
oughly broken to pieces. 

(Plate 75.) 
Chloris alba. 

An annual grass, growing in tufts, 1 to 2 feet high, smo /th, the culms 
frequently-branched and bent at the lower joints, decumbent, becom- 
ing erect; leaves numerous, smooth, the sheaths mostly loose, the blade 
broad, the upper sheath dilated and at first inclosing the flower spikes, 
which are eight to fifteen in number, 2 to 3 inches long, and umbellate 
or fasciculate at the top of the culm or of the lateral branches. The 
spikelets are sessile and crowded in two rows on one side of the spikes ; 
each spikelet contains one perfect and one or two imperfect or rudi- 
mentary flowers; the outei- glumes are unequal, thin, keeled, the ui3i)er 
one mucronate-pointed, and abou t one and one-half lines long, the lower 
one one-third shorter ; the flowering glume of the lower or perfect flower 
is thick and firm in texture, nearly one and one-half lines long, broad in 
the middle and narrowed above and below, much compressed, five nerved, 
with two short teeth at the apex, and a straight awn two or three lines 
long between the teeth, the margins toward the top strongly ciliate with 
long white hairs ; the palet is of similar texture, narrow, and nearly as 
long as its glume ; the neutral or upper flower is shorter, truncate above, 
of a club-like appearance, smooth, tipped with an awn. Sometimes 
there is another small imperfect flower or a pedicel above the second, 
and enwrapped by it. 

This is a common grass in the arid regions of New Mexico, Arizona, 
and farther south and west. This grass furnishes a large quantity of 
foliage, but of its agricultural value w^e have no information. There 
are several other species growing in the same region. (Plate 76.) 

BouTELOUA. (Mesquite grass.) 

This genus, of which there are many species, has generally numerous 
spikes in a racemose one-sided panicle. The spikes are generally 
densely flowered and from one-half to 1^ inches long. The spikelets are 
crowded in two rows on one side of the axis, each consisting of one per- 
fect flower, and a stalked pedicel bearing empty glumes and one to three 
stift awns; the outer glumes are unequal, acute, keeled, membranaceous; 
the flowering glume broader and usually thicker, with three to five lobes, 
teeth or awns at the apex ; palet hyaline, narrow, entire or two-toothed, 
enfolded by its glume. 
2218 GR 6 



82 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



BouTELOUA OLIGOSTACHYA. (Mesquite grass, Gramma grass, Buffalo 

grass.) 

This is a perennial species growing on the great plains from Montana 
and Dakota southward to Texas. The culms are from one-half to 1 J feet 
high. ]N"ear the top there are usually two or three, sometimes more, 
curved flowering spikes, about 1^ inches long ; the culm and leaves are 
smooth ; the outer glumes and the flowering glumes are sparingly soft- 
hairy, the lobes awl pointed, the sterile flower or rudiment is copiously 
villous-tufted at the summit of the naked pedicelj its three awns equal- 
ing the perfect flower. (Plate 77.) 

BouTELOUA HIRSUTA. (Bdstly mcsquite or Gramma grass.) 

This annual or biennial species has about the same range as the pre- 
ceding, is of about the same size and general appearance. The upper 
empty glume is on the back hispid with bristly hairs proceeding from 
dark, warty glands ; the flowering glume is pubescent, three-cleft into 
awl-pointed lobes 5 the sterile flower and its pedicel are glabrous, the 
three sterile awns longer than the fertile flower. 

BouTELOUA POLYSTACHYA. (Low Gramma grass.) 

This species probably does not reach farther north than northern New 
Mexico. It is an annual from 6 to 10 inches high growing in clumps ; the 
culms are slender, branching and bent at the lower joints. The culin 
terminates in a raceme-like panicle, 3 to C inches long, composed of five 
to seven alternate, narrow, one-sided spikes, which are about 1 inch long 
and one-half inch to 1 inch apart. The spikelets are generally close but 
not so dense as in the preceding, and much smaller ; the outer glumes 
are thin, unequal, oblong, the upper one about one line long, bifid and 
mucronate pointed; the flowering glume of the perfect flower is oblong, 
obtuse, three-nerved, the nerves extended beyond the glumes into short 
awns, with two broad lobes, one on each side of the central awn, and 
two shall lateral lobes, one on the outer side of each lateral awn, the 
outer margins ciliate. The rudimentary flower is very short stalked, 
with three small glume-like scales and three short awns. There are 
several varieties or forms of this species, some smaller and some larger. 
It abounds near the banks of streams and furnishes excellent pasturage. 
(Plate 78.) ^ 

BOUTELOUA RACEMOSA, {B. curtipendula. Gray). (Tall Gramma 

grass.) 

This species ranges from Mexico to British America, and east of the 
Mississippi River in Wisconsin and Illinois. It is easily distinguished 
from the others by its taller growth, and by the long, slender raceme of 
twenty to fifty or more slender spikes. These are usually about half an 
inch long and reflexed. There are from six to ten spikelets on each 
spike. The outer glumes are lanceolate, acuminate ; the upper about 
two lines long and scabrous j the flowering glume is oblong, between 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 83 

two to three lines long, with three short awl-poiuted teeth at the apex j 
the palet is nearly of equal leno'th ; the sterile flower is reduced to one 
or two minute scales with three short awns, or to a single small awn. 

The most useful of the gramma grasses is, probablj^, the Bouteloua 
oligostachya, but the others aid in furnishing the supply of food for the 
thousands of animals which are fattened on the great plains. It is 
doubtful if these grasses would bear the effect of continued tramping 
and close cropping if the lands were inclosed and pastured. 

Eleusine Indica. (Yard grass, Crow foot, Grab grass, Wire grass.) 

An annual grass belonging to tropical countries, but now naturalized 
in most temperate climates. In the Southern States it is found in every 
door-yard and in all waste i^laces. The culms are from 1 to 3 feet high, 
usually coarse and thick, and very leafy, especially below. The leaves 
are long and rather wide. At the top of the culm there are two to five 
or more thickish, densely-flowered spikes proceeding from a common 
point, with sometimes one or two scattering ones lower down on the 
culm. The spikelets are sessile and crowded along one side of the axis, 
each being from two to six flowered, the upper flower imperfect or ru- 
dimentary ; the outer glumes are membranaceous, shorter than the 
flowers, the flowering glumes usually obtuse; the palet folded and two- 
keeled. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

-The clumps have many long leaves and stems, rising 1 or 2 feet liigh, and many 
long, strong, deeply penetrating fibrous roots. It grows readily in door-yards, barn- 
yards, and rich cultivated grounds, and produces an immense quantity of seeds. It 
is a very nutritions grass, and good for grazing, soiling, and hay. The succulent 
lower part of the stems, covered with the sheaths of the leaves, renders it difficult to 
cure well, for which several days are required. It may be cut two or three times, 
and yields a large quantity of hay. 

(Plate 79.) 

Leptochloa mucronata. (Feather grass, Slender grass.) 

An annual grass, growing from 2 to 3 feet high, the flowers arranged 
in a long panicled, loose raceme. The branches or spikes are very 
slender, 1 to 5 inches long, and very numerous, thirty to flft}^ or more, 
with the spikelets sessile and continuous in two rows along one side 
of the spikes. The spikelets are about one line long, three-flowered, 
the uppermost flower imperfect. The outer glumes are lanceolate, 
acute keeled, and nearly as long as the spikelet ; the flowering glumes 
are obtuse or sometimes slightly mucronate, one-half line long, keeled, 
and with strong, somewhat pubescent, lateral nerves. 

This is a handsome grass when full grown, the panicles on thrifty 
specimens becoming 2 feet long, the slender branches arranged along 
the main stem in a feather-like manner, hence the name. It grows 
from Virginia, west and south, becoming quite common in the South- 



84 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 0^ THE UNITED STATES. 

erii States. It affords a small amooiit of grazing daring tlie summer. 
Professor Phares says : 

Its growth is very rapid, altbouoli it has little root and is easily uprooted. Al- 
though it coiitaius a good perceutage of nutritious matter, it is of little agricnltural 
value. Its assurgeut leaves and stems and immensely large panicles occupy so much 
space that a comparatively small number of plants would occupy an acre of ground, 
while it has so little weight that the product of several acres of the finest growth of 
it would be required to produce a single ton of hay. 

(Plate 80.) 

BucHLOE DACTYLOIDES. (Buffalo grass, False Mesquite grass.) 

This grass is extensively spread over all the region known as the great 
plains. It is very low, the bulk of leaves seldom rising more than 3 or 4 
inches above the ground, growing in extensive tufts or patches, and 
spreading largely by means of stolons or offshoots similar to those of 
Bermuda grass, these stolons being sometimes 2 feet long, and with 
joints every 3 or 4 inches, frequently rooting and sending up flowering 
culms from the joints. The leaves of the radical tults are 3 to 5 inches 
loug, one or one-half line wide, smooth, or edged with a few scattering 
hairs. The flowering culms are chiefly dioecious, but sometimes both 
male and female flowers are found on the same plant but in separate 
parts. The flowering stems of the male plant are 4 to 8 inches high, 
bearing three or four slender leaves, and at the summit two to four" 
short contiguous spikes, which are about half an inch long. These 
spikes consist usually of five to six sessile spikelets, alternate, in two 
rows, on the lower side of the flattened, scabrous axis. The spikelets 
are two to three lines long and mostly two-flowered. The outer glumes 
are unequal and one-nerved, the lower one half as long as the flower 
above it, the upper one shorter. The flowering glumes and palets are 
of equal length, membranaceons, the flowering glume three-nerved, the 
palet two-nerved. The flowering stalk of the female plant is shorter 
than the leaves, 1 to 2 or sometimes 3 or 4 inches high, sometimes 
almost concealed among the leaves at the joints of the stolons. The 
sheaths of the two or three uppermost leaves of the culm are dilated 
and inclose the spikes or clusters of flowers. Of these spikes there are 
two or three, each consisting of three to five spikelets. The spikelets 
are single-flowered and of a somewhat complex structure, the parts 
analagous to those of the male flowers, but thickened, indurated, and 
modified. All the upper glumes are indurated and united at their bases 
with the thickened axis, the lower glume of the lowest spikelet being 
lanceolate, with an herbaceous tip or two to three cleft, thickened and 
united to the upper glume, the lower glume of the other spikelets free, 
much smaller, ovate-lanceolate, acute, and one-nerved, the flowering 
glume shorter, three-nerved, and three-toothed at the summit. 

It is hardly necessary to recapitulate the virtues of this widely cele- 
brated grass. It plays an important part in the feeding and fattening 
of the vast herds of cattle, which have now mostly displaced the buttalo, 
whose favorite food it was supi)osed to be. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OP THE UNITED STATES. 85 



Prof. S. B. Buckley, of Austin, Tex., says : 

This is one of the best grasses of Texas for pasturage, if not the very best; being 
perennial it affords food for stock both summer and winter. p]ven in midwinter it 
presents a green covering over many liills and prairies in this vicinity. It is also the 
best grass for lawns indigenous to Texas. It thrives on every variety of soil, grow- 
inir on poor gravelly uplands, and also in rich river bottoms, but it mostly abounds 
on the prairies, among the mesqnite trees scattered over their surface, throughout a 
lar e portion of our State, whence it is commonly called mesqnite grass in Texas. 
This name, however, is given to two or three other species of grass which are asso- 
ciated with it. It is not difficult to eradiate, nor is it ever troublesome in cultivated 
fields, because it has so few seeds. All kinds of stock are extremely fond of it, from 
Avhich we infer that it is very sweet and nutritous. In extreme droughts all the 
grasses seem dead, but a rain will make this grass green and growing in a few hours. 
Even when dry, weather-beaten, and seemingly dead it is still good food for stock. 

Whether this grass can be successfully subjected to cultivation re- 
mains to be seen. (Plate 81.) • 

Triodia. (Tricnspis.) 

This genus, which contains numerous species of very different size and 
aspect, is characterized as follows: Spikelets, several to many-Howered, 
someof theupper ones male orimperfect : theouter glumes keeled, acute, 
or acutish, awnless ; the flowering glumes imbricated, rounded on the 
^back, at least below, three-nerved, the marginal nerves usually hairy, 
mucronate, three-toothed or three-lobed at the apex, or obscurely erose, 
often hardened and nerveless in fruit ; the palet broad, prominently 
two-keeled. 

Triodla SESLERioiDES. {Tricuspis seslerloides.) (Tall Red top.) 

This grass grows from 3 to 5 feet high. The culms are very smooth ; 
the leaves are long and flat, the lower sheaths hairy or smoothish. The 
panicle is large and loose, at first erect, but finally spreading widely. 
The branches are single or in twos or threes below, and frequently 6 
inches long, divided, and flower-bearing above the middle. The spikelets 
are on short pedicels, three to four lines long, and five or six flowered. 
The outer glumes are shorter than the flowers, unequal and pointed; 
the flowering glumes are hairy toward the base, having three strong- 
nerves, which are extended into short teeth at the suinmit. It is a large 
and showy grass when fully matured, the panicles being large, spread- 
ing, and of a purplish color. It grows in sandy fields, and on dry sterile 
banks, from New York to South Carolina, and westward. This is eaten 
by cattle when it is young, but the culms are rather harsh and wiry and 
not relished by them. It is, however, cut for hay where it naturally 
abounds. (Plate 82.) 

Triodia trinerviglumis. [Tricuspis trinerriglumis.) 

Another perennial species of this genus, growing in Colorado, Ar- 
kansas, Texas, New Mexico, and southward. The culms are 2 to 3 feet 
high, and rather stout; the radical leaves are somewhat rigid, G to 12 



86 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



inches long, narrow, acuminate-joointed, inclined to be involute, tbe 
vslieaths more or less hairy. The smooth culm has three or four leaves, 
which are 4 to 8 inches long, and slender-pointed. The panicle is nar- 
row and spike-like, 6 to 9 inches long, composed of tive or six alternate? 
somewbat distant, and closely erect branches, the lower ones 1 to 2 inches 
long, and consisting of six to ten sessile, alternate spikelets, each of 
which are eight to ten flowered, and four to six lines long. The outer 
glumes are lanceolate, acute, smooth, nearly equal, somewhat faintly 
I three-nerved, and three to five lines long ; the flowering glumes are 
oblong, three-nerved, two to three lines long, entire or obscurely dentic- 
ulate at the apex, acute or obtusish, the nerves and margins densely 
hairy for about two-thirds the length, also the base and axis hairy. The 
palet is one-third shorter, two-keeled, minutely toothed at the apex, 
hairy on the keels below. * * 

Little is known of its abundance or agricultural value. (Plate 83.) 

Triodia stricta is another species of Texas and the Southwest, much 
larger, stouter, and more rigid than the preceding. 

Triodia acuminata. (Tricuspis acuminata.) 

A low species, growing in tufts, from 6 to 12 inches high, the leaves 
short and narrow, but abundant near the ground; the culms are erect, 
slender, with one or two short leaves, and terminated by an oblong, 
spike-like panicle about an inch long, composed of a few crowded ses- 
sile or nearly sessile branches, each with one to three spikelets. The 
spikelets each contain eight or ten crowded flowers. The outer glumes 
are nearly equal, lanceolate, acute, chartaceous, one-nerved, about three 
lines long ; the flowering. glumes are about three lines long, lanceolate 
or ovate-lanceolate, acute, three-nerved, the mid-nerve extended into a 
short stiff awn, the margins fringed with long white hairs, and theback 
below, with the axis, hairy. The palet is about one-third shorter than 
its glume, folded back on the two keels, sparingly hairy, and the keels 
scabrous pubescent. This is a native of the arid regions of Texas, New 
Mexico, and south westward. (Plate 84.) 

Triplasis PURPUREA. (Tricuspis piirpiirea.) (Sand grass.) 

An annual grass, growing in tufts in sandy soil along the Atlantic 
coast, and also in sandy districts in the interior. The culms are about 
Ifoot high, rather decumbent at the base, with eight to ten short joints, 
and an equal number of narrow, awl-shaped leaves, 2 to 3 inches long, 
which are bearded with hairs at the top of the sheaths. There are usu- 
ally several lateral panicles of flowers as well as a terminal one. The 
lateral ones are inclosed within the sheaths; the terminal one usually 
exerted, but short and simple. The spikelets are two to fiveflovvered; 
the glumes much shorter than the spikelet ; the flowers rather distant 
from each other; the flowering glumes and palets strongly fringed on 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 87 



the nerves ; the flowering gkimes two-lobed or two-cleft at the summit, 
with the micl-Derve extended into' a short awn between the lobes. This 
grass has very little practical value. 

DiPLACHNE. {Lej)tochloa.) 

This genus is characterized as having the spikelets narrow, sessile, 
or nearly so, on the long slender branches of the panicle, usually in two 
rows, but not continuous as in Leptocliloa^ the outer glumes keeled? 
acute, but not awned j the flowering glumes one to three nerved, with a 
thin or hyaline, shortly two-toothed or two-lobed apex, the keel pro- 
duced into a short point or awn between the lobes ; palet thin and 
prominently two-nerved. 

DiPLACHNE FASCICULARIS. (Leptochloa fascicular IS.) (Spike grass.) 

An annual grass of vigorous growth, 2 to 3 feet high, growing in brack" 
ish marshes or wet ground near the sea-coast, and, also, far inland in 
the Mississippi Valley, Texas, Arizona, &c , in alkaline soil. The radical 
leaves are narrow and half to two-thirds as long as the culms, rough on 
the margin ; those of the culms similar, with long, smooth, loose sheaths, 
the upper one usually inclosing the base of the panicle. The culms are 
frequently branched at the lower joints. The i)anicle is large, 6 to 10 
inches long, consisting of numerous (fifteen to thirty) spike-like branches, 
which are 2 to 4 inches long, mostly alternate, sometimes fascicled be- 
low, angular and rough, and flower-bearing throughout. The spikelets 
are nearly sessile and alternate, usually somewhat longer than the space 
between them ; each contains five to seven flowers ; the outer glumes 
are unequal, smooth, one-nerved, and mucronate-pointedj the flowering 
are ovate-lanceolate, about one and a half lines long, flatfish on the back, 
three-nerved, pubescent on the nerves and margins below, shortly two- 
toothed at the apex, with a short rough awn between the teeth ; the 
palet is somewhat shorter, lanceolate, two-nerved, and ciliate on the 
nerves. (Plate 85.) 

DiPLACHNE DUBIA. {Leptockloa duMa.) 

A grass of similar aspect to the preceding ; the leaves somewhat longer 
and more rigid; the i)anicle rather shorter, and composed of six to twelve 
branches, which are stouter and more spreading. The outer glumes are 
lanceolate, nearly equal, acute, one-nerved, rough on the keel, about one 
and one-half lines long; the flowering glumes are oblong, very obtuse, two- 
lobed and somewhat fringe-toothed at the apex, three nerved, smooth 
except on the margins, awnless ; the i^alet is as long as its glume, nar- 
rower, two-nerved, and ciliate on the nerves. The spikelets in age be- 
come, spreading, and the axis zigzag. It is of more southern range than 
he preceding, occurring in the Gulf States and southwestward. (Plate 
86.) 



88 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Phragmites communis. (Eeed grass.) 

A tall, coarse, perennial grass, growing on the borders of ponds and 
streams, almost rivaling sorghum in luxuriance. It attains a height of 
6 to 10 feet; the culms sometimes an inch in diameter, and leaves an inch 
or two in width. The panicle is from 9 to 15 inches long, loose but not 
much spreading, of an oblong or lanceolate form and slightly nodding. 
The branches are very numerous, irregularly whorled, 4 to 8 inches long, 
much subdivided, and x>i"ofusely flowering. The larger panicles form 
very ornamental plumes, almost equal to those of Arundo donax, so 
much cultivated for ornamental purposes. The spikelets are three to 
seven flowered, all the flowers except the lowest surrounded by long 
silky hairs at the base ; the lowest one is either empty or contains only 
stamens. The lower or empty glumes are thin, lanceolate, keeled, and 
unequal in size, the upper one being considerably the longer. The flow- 
ering glumes are membranaceous, narrowly awl shaped, and about as long 
as the silky hairs. The palets are thin and only half to one- third as 
long as their glumes. 

This grass is widely distributed in different parts of the globe, and in 
some countries is put to several uses, as for thatching, for which it is 
said to be valuable. It is also sometimes used for making light reed 
fences and screens. Its leaves are too coarse and innutritions for fod- 
der except when very young. 

Professor Scribner saw in Montana prostrate stems of this grass which 
were 28 feet long, and some of the upright culms were 10 to 14 feet high. 
(Plate 87.) 

KcELERiA CRiSTATA. (Orestcd Kceleria.) 

This grass has a very wide diffusion both in this country and in Euroi)e 
and Asia. It favors dry hills or sandy prairies, and on the great 
plains is one of the commonest species. It occurs throughout Califor- 
nia and into Oregon. It varies much in appearance according to the 
location in which it grows, these variations being so striking that they 
have been considered ditlerent species, and perhaps two species ought 
to be admitted. It is perennial, with erect culms usually from 1 to 2 
feet high, and a spike-like panicle varying from 3 to 6 inches in length 
and more or less interrupted or lobed at the lower part. When grown 
in very arid places the culms may be only a foot high, the radical leaves 
short, and the panicle only 2 inches long. When grown in more favored 
situations the radical leaves are 18 inches long, the stem 3 feet, and 
the panicle 6 inches long. The branches of the panicle are, in short, 
nearly sessile clusters, crowded above, looser and interrupted below. 
The spikelets are from two to four flowered. The outer glumes are a 
little shorter than the spikelets, lanceolate, acute, compressed. The 
flowering glumes are similar, membranaceous, acute, or mucronate. 
The palet is of nearly equal length, thinner and two-toothed at the apex. 
The flowers, panicle, culm, and leaves are usually more or less softly 
hairy. It is readily eaten by cattle. (Plate 88.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 

Eeagrostis. 

Of this genus we liave abou t twenty siiecies in the United States. It is 
characterized as follows : Spikelets numerous, usually in a loose, some- 
times spreading and diffuse, panicle ; commonly many flowered (rarely 
two or three only), sessile or pediceled, usually glabrous ; the outer 
ginmes are unequal and rather shorter than the flowering ones, keeled 
and mostly one-nerved ; the flowering glumes are membranaceous, acute 
or obtuse, unawned, but rarely mucronate pointed, three-nerved, the 
keel prominent, the lateral nerves sometimes very faint; the palet 
shorter than its glume, with two prominent nerves or keels, often per- 
sisting after the glume and grain have fallen away. 

Eragrostis po^oides var. megastachya. (Pungent meadow 

grass.) 

This is a foreign grass which has become extensively naturalized, not 
only in the older States but in many jjlaces in the western and south- 
western Territories. It is found in waste and cultivated grounds and 
on roadsides, growing in thick tufts, which spread out over the ground 
by means of the geniculate and decumbent culms. The culms are from 
1 to 2 feet long, the lower joints bent and giving rise to long branches. 
The sheaths are shorter than the internodes, the leaves from 3 to 6 inches 
long. The panicle is frequently 4 or 5 inches Ion g, oblong or pyramidal, 
somewhat open, but full-flowered; the branches irregularly single or in 
pairs, branched and flowering nearly to the base. The spikelets are ob- 
long or lanceolate one-fourth to one-half inch long, and ten to twenty 
flowered when well developed. The empty glumes are smaller than the 
flowering ones, rough on the keel, acutish. The flowering glumes are 
one line long, ovate, rather obtuse, and strongly three-nerved. The 
palets are shorter than their glumes, narrow, the sides reflexed and the 
margin ciliate. This grass is said to have a disagreeable odor when 
fresh. It produces an abundance of foliage, and is apparently an an- 
nual, reaching maturity late in the season. We are not aware that its 
agricultural value has been tested. (Plate 89.) 

Eragrostis purshii. 

This is a native grass, very widely diffused over the United States, 
and extends into Mexico. In habit it is somewhat like the preceding 
species {U, poceoides), growing in tufts, with the culms branching at 
the base and the lower joints bent. The culms are smooth, slender, 10 
to 20 inches high, the leaves narrow and sparse, with a tendency to 
produce an abundance of flowering culms. The i)anicle is oblong, open 
and spreading, 3 to 4 inches long, with the branches irregularly single 
or in i)airs, and much subdivided. The spikelets are oblong, lanceolate 
to linear, about two lines long, and usually from five to fifteen flowered. 
The empty glumes are small, only about half the length of the flowering 
glumes, ovate and acute. The flowering glumes are about half a line 



iiO THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



long, acutisli, aod distinctly three-nerved. It has little or no agricult- 
ural value except in arid, sandy districts, where it seems to he most 
common. {Plate 90.) 

Melica. 

Of this genus we have ten to twelve .'-pecies. Its characters are as 
follows : Spikelets two to many flowered; the flowers usually convolute 
around each other, the upper one smaller and imperfect ; the outer glumes 
membranaceous or hyaline, acute or obtuse, awnless, the lower one three 
to five and the upper sometimes seven to nine nerved, the lateral nerves 
not reaching to the margin. The flowering glumes are of thicker text- 
ure, becoming coriaceous, scarious at the apex, rounded or flattish on 
the back, five to nine nerved, the lateral nerves not reaching the apex, 
the central one sometimes ending in a point or an awn 5 the palets 
shorter than their glumes, two-keeled, ciliate on the keels. 

MELigA MUTiCA. (Mehc grass.) 

A perennial grass, growing sparingly in rich, rocky woods through- 
out most of the States east of the Eocky Mountains. It grows in loose 
tufts, the culms about 2 feet high, the lower leaves and sheathes 
soft hairy, the upper leaves narrow, 3 to 4 inches long, gradually 
pointed. The panicle is very simple or little branched. In the variety 
diffusa the panicle is larger, more branched and spreading; the spike- 
lets are loosely arranged on the branches, almost sessile, and rather on 
one si(ie of the branches. They are large and graceful in appearance, 
each one consisting of two perfect flowers and a small chaffy knob, 
called a rudiment. The outer glumes are thin, scarious-margined, five 
to seven nerved, purplish, and three to four lines long. The flowering 
glumes are thicker, strongly ribbed, scarious at the blunt apex, and 
minutely rough on the nerves. The two flowers are somewhat distant 
from each other. The palets are narrower and shorter than the flower- 
ing glumes, arched and ciliate on the keels. This grass is eaten and 
relished by cattle, but is probably not well adapted to cultivation. 
(Plate 91.) 

Melica bulbosa. (Bulbous Melic grass.) 

This species is distinguished by its large bulbous roots, or, more 
properly, by the bulb-like enlargement of the base of the culm. It 
grows to the height of 2 or 3 feet ; the leaves narrow, scabrous, and 
mostly involute. The panicle is from 4 to 8 inches long, narrow, with 
short and distinct branches, which are mostly in pairs, erect and densely 
flowered. The spikelets are about half an iuch long, with usually three 
or four flowers, the upi3er one sterile. The outer glumes are thia, broad, 
and obtuse, the lower one three to five nerved, the upper five to seven 
nerved. The flowering glume is about a quarter of an inch long, ob- 
tuse, roughish, and seven-nerved. The palet shorter than the flower- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 91 

ing glume and ciliate on the keels. This species grows in the mountain 
region of California and Oregon, also in Nevada. Utah, and Wyoming. 
(Plate 92.) 

Melica imperfecta. 

There are seven or eight species of Melica in California, some of them 
quite common, but they do not appear to have much agricultural value. 
The Melica i7nperfecta grows in tufts in shaded ground. There are sev- 
eral varieties, which differ considerably in size and general appearance. 
They may be described in general terms as growing from 1 to 3 feet 
high, with slender, rather wiry culms; the lower leaves are narrow, 
with long-tapering points, and about half as long as the culm, generally 
smooth or slightly scabrous. The roots are perennial, with strong fibers. 
The panicle varies in the different varieties from 6 to V2 inches in length, 
rather narrow, with distant rays, which are very unequal in length, and 
in clusters from three to five. The longer rays are 1 or 2, or sometimes 
3 inches long, flower-bearing for half or two-thirds their length, while 
the shorter ones, J to 1 inch long, are flower-bearing to their base. The 
spikelets are one quarter of an inch or less in length, and usually with 
two flowers, one of which is imperfect, sometimes, however, with three 
flowers, one or two of which are imperfect. The outer glumes are fre- 
quently purplish, with thin, whitish margins, slightl}^ obtuse, and three 
to five nerv^ed. The flowering glume is about seven-nerved, usually 
purplish, rather acute; the palet of about the same length and two- 
toothed. The imperfect flower has a short pedicel, and is about half 
as long as the perfect one. (Plate 93.) 

Uniola. 

This genus has closely, many-flowered spikelets, usually large, very 
flat, and two-edged, one or more of the lowest flowers neutral and con- 
sisting only of an empty glume ; the glumes are closely folded together, 
kefeled, rigid, or coriaceous ; the flowering ones larger, many-nerved, 
usually acute or pointed, entire ; palet rigid, two-keeled, the keels nar- 
rowly winged. 

Uniola latifolia. (Broad-flowered Fescue grass.) 

This is a handsome grass, growing 2 to 3 feet high, with very broad 
leaves and a spreading panicle ; the drooping spikelets larger than those 
of any other grass we have, being an inch long or more, and nearly half 
as wide, consisting of ten to twelve flowers. It grows from Pennsyl- 
vania and Illinois southward. Mr. Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala., says of 
this grass : 

A fine vernal grass, with a ricli foliage, blooming early in May; 2 to 3 feet higli; 
frequent in damp, sandy loam, forming large tufts. This perennial grass is certainly 
valuable, affording an abundant range early in the season; if cultivated it would 
yield large crops ready for cutting from the 1st of May. It is called by some wild 



92 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



fescue or oat grass. It is not found near the coast, consequently I had no chance to 
observe its growth during the latter part of the summer and in the winter season, and 
therefore am not able to judge of its value as a pasture grass. 

(Plate 94.) 

DiSTiCHLis MARiTiMA. (Salt grass, Marsh grass.) 

This is described in most botanical works as Brizopyrum spicatiim, 
but recently the name given by Eafinesque has been accepted and re- 
stored to it by Mr. Bentham. It^is a perennial grass, growiug in 
marshes near the sea-coast on both sides of the coutiuent, and also 
abundantly in alkaline soil throughout the arid districts of the Eocky 
Mountains. It has strong, creeping root-stocks, covered with imbri- 
cated leaf-sheaths, sending up culms from 6 to 18 inches high, which are 
clothed nearly to the top with the numerous, sometimes crowded, two- 
ranked leaves. The leaves are generally rigid and involute, sbarp- 
pointed, varying greatly in length on different specimens. The plants 
are dioecious, some being entirely male and some female. The jjanicle 
is generally short and spike-like, sometimes, especially in the males, 
rather loose, with longer, erect branches, and sometimes reduced to a 
few spikelets. The spikelets are from four to six lines long and five to 
ten flowered, the flowers being usually much compressed. The outer 
glumes are smooth, narrow, and keeled ; the flowering ones are broader, 
keeled, acute, rather rigid, and faintly many-nerved. The palets have 
an infolded margin, the keels prominent or narrowly winged. The pis- 
tillate spikelets are more condensed and more rigid than the staminate. 
Although this cannot be considered a first-rate grass for agricultural 
purposes, it is freely cut with other marsh grasses, and on the alkaline 
plains of the Rocky Mountains it affords an inferior pasturage. (Plate 
95.) 

Dactylis glomerata. (Orchard grass. Cocksfoot grass.) 

This is one of the most popular meadow grasses of Europe, and is 
well known to most farmers in the Northern and Eastern States. It is 
a perennial, of strong, rank growth, about 3 feet high, the culm and 
leaves roughish, the leaves broadly linear, light green, and five to six 
on the culm. The panicle is generally but 2 or 3 inches long, the upper 
part dense from the shortness of the branches 5 the lower branches are 
longer and spreading, but with the spikelets glomerated or closely 
tufted. The spikelets are usually three to four flowered, one-sided, and 
on short, rough pedicels. The glumes are pointed and somewhat un- 
equal, the upper one being smaller and thinner than the lower. The 
flowering glumes are ovate-lanceolate, roughish, and ending in a sharp 
point or short awn, and are rather longer than the outer glumes. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

Of all grasses this is one of the most widely diffused, growiug in Africa, Asia, every 
country of Europe, and all our States. It is more highly esteemed and commended 
• than any other grass by a larger number of farmers in most countries, a most decided 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSKS OF THE UNITED STATES. 93 



proof of its great value aud wonderful adaptatiot to many soils, climates, and treat- 
ments. Yet, strange to say, thougli growing in England for many centuries, it was 
not appreciated in that country till carried there from Virginia in 1764. Bur, as in 
the case of timothy grass, soon after its introduction from America, it came into high 
favor among farmers, and still retains its hold on their estimation as a grazing and 
hay crop. It will grow well on any soil containing sufficient clay and not holding too 
much water. If the land be too tenacious, drainage will remedy the soil; if worn 
out, a top dressing of stable manure will give it a good send-off, and it will furnish 
several mowings the first year. It grows well between 29° aiid 4H° latitude. It may 
be mowed from two to four times a year, according to latitude, season, and treatment, 
yielding from I to 3 tons of excellent hay per acre on poor to medium land. It is 
easily cured and handled. It is readily seeded and catches with certainty. It grows 
well in open lands and in forests of large trees, the underbrush being all cleared off. 
I know but one objection to it. Like tall out grass it is disposed to grow in clumps 
and leave much of the ground uncovered. This may be obviated by thick seeding, 
using *2i, or, better, 3 bushels of seed per acre. The gaps may be prevented by sow- 
ing with it a few pounds of red-top seed. But as the latter multiplies annually from 
seeds dropping, it would in a few j ears root out the orchard grass. In common with 
others I prefer red clover with orchard grass. It fills the gaps and matures at the 
same time with the orchard grass ; the mixture makes good pasture and good hay; 
but if mowed more than twice a year, or grazed too soon after the second mowing, 
the clover will rapidly fail. One peck of red clover seed and six pecks of orchard 
grass seed is a good proportion per acre. * * * After being cut it has been found 
to grow inches in less than three days. Sheep leave all other grasses if they 
can find this, and acre for acre it will sustain twice as many sheep or other stock as 
timothy. Cut at the proper stage it makes a much better hay than timothy, and is 
greatly preferred by animals, being easier to masticate, digest, and assimilate; in 
fact, more like green grass in flavor, tenderness, and solubility. 

Mr. J. S. Gould, of New York, says: 

The testimony that has been collected from all parts of the world for two centuries 
past establishes the place of this species among the very best of our forage grasses, 
and we have not the shadow of a doubt that the interests of our graziers and dairy- 
men would be greatly promoted by its more extended cultivation. It is always found 
in the rich old pastures of England, where an acre of land can be relied on to fatten a 
bullock and four sheep. It is admirably adapted for growing in the shade, no grass 
being equal to it in this respect, except the rough-stalked meadow grass {Poa trivi- 
alis). It receives the name of orchard grass from this circumstance. We have seen 
it growing in great luxuriance in dense old New England orchards, where no other 
grass except Poa trivialis would grow at all. It afiibrds a good bite earlier in the spring 
than any other grass except the meadow fox-tail (Alopecunis pratensis). It aflbrds a 
very great amount of aftermath, being exceeded in this respect by no other grass 
'except Kentucky blue grass {Poa pratensis), and it continues to send out root leaves 
until very late in the autunm. When sown with other grasses its tendency to form tus- 
socks is very much diminished; indeed, it is always unprofitable to sow it alone in 
meadows or pastures, as it stands too thin upon the ground to make a profitable use 
of the land, and the filling up of the interspaces with other varieties greatly improves 
the quality of the orchard grass by restraining its rankness and making it more deli- 
cate. 

Mr. Sinclair states, and the statement has been abundantly verified 
in all countries, that the herbage when suffered to grow rauk or old 
contains one-half less nutriment than that which is of recent growth. 
Cattle, sheep, and horses eat it with the greatest avidity when it is 
young, but will not touch it when old, hence the importance, when 



94 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

pastures have been understocked, of going over them with a mowing 
machine ; the orchard grass will then stool out, and the cattle will be 
found eating first on the very spots that they had previously rejected. 
(Plate 96.) 

POA. 

This is an extensive genus, there being about thirty-five species in 
the United States, and it contains some of the most valuable grasses 
for pasturage. 

The chief characters of the genus are as follows : Spikelets some- 
what compressed, usually two to five flowered ; the axis between the 
flowers glabrous, or sometimes hairy ; the flowers generally perfect, in 
a few species dioecious ; the outer glumes commonly shorter than the 
flowers, membranaceous, keeled, obtuse or acute, one to three nerved, 
not awned 5 the flowering glumes membranaceous, five or rarely seven 
nerved 5 the lateral nerves frequently very faint and obscure, often 
scarious at the apex and margins ; the back, especially toward the 
base, frequently pubescent on the nerves, often with a few or many 
loose or webby hairs at the base ; palet about as long as its glume, 
prominently two-nerved or two-keeled. 

PoA PRATENSis. (June grass, Kentucky blue grass. Spear grass.) 

This grass is too well known to need an extended description. It is 
a perennial, growing usually IJ to 2 feet high, with an abundance of 
long, soft, radical leaves. There are several well-marked varieties, 
which are much modified and improved by good cultivation. It is 
indigenous in the mountainous regions of this country as well as of 
Europe, and has been introduced into cultivation in many countries. 
The panicle is generally pyramidal in outline, 2 to 4 inches long, open 
and spreading, the branches fine, mostly in fives, the lower ones 1 to 2 
inches long, subdivided and flowering above the middle. The spike- 
lets are about two lines long, ovate, closely three to five flowered, 
mostly on very short pedicels. The outer glumes are acute ; the flow- 
ering glumes acute or acutish, five-nerved, the lateral nerves prominent, 
the lower part of the keel and marginal nerves more or less hairy, and 
at the base more or less webby -hairy. From the unexampled success its 
cultivation has met with in Kentucky it has acquired the name of 
Kentucky blue grass, although in E'ew England it is known by the 
name of June grass. In all the middle portions of the United States 
it forms the principal constituent of pastures, though its excellence is 
said to be rather depreciated in the Eastern States. 

In some sections it has been used as a hay grass, but it is not a success as a 
meadow, its chief excellence being exhibited as a pasture grass. It endures the 
frosts of winter better than any other grass we have, and if allowed to grow rank 
during the fall months it will turn over and hide beneath its covering the most lux- 
uriant of winter croppings. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 95 



Professor Killebrew, of Tennessee, says : 

It would seem a work of supererogation to argue as to the advantages of cultivat- 
ing tliis grass. All know its benefits, and all see around them the great increase in 
the value of the land covered by it. It grows readily in all parts of the United 
States north of 40°, and lower down on suitable soils. It flowers in the earliest sum- 
mer, and gives rich pasturage, except in the driest months, all the year. It varies in 
size in different localities according to soil and climate. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

Kentucky blue grass, known also in the Eastern States as June grass, although 
esteemed in some parts of America as the best of all pasture grasses, seems not to be 
considered very valuable among English farmers except in mixtures. It is certainly 
a very desirable grass, however. Its very narrow leaves, 1, 2, or more feet long, are 
in such profusion and cover the ground to such depth with their luxuriant growth 
that a mere description could give no one an adequate idea of its beauty, quantity, 
or value | that is, on rich land. On poor, sandy laud it degenerates sadly, as do other 
things uncongenially located. Perennial, and bearing cold and drought well, it fur- 
nishes grazing a large part of the year. It is specially valuable as a winter and 
spring grass for the South. In prolonged summer drought it dries completely, so that 
if fired it would burn off clean. But this occurs even in Kentucky, where, indeed, it 
has seemed, without fire, to disappear utterly ; yet when rain came, the bright green 
spears promptly recarpeted the earth. Sown alone, 20 to 26 pounds, that is 2 bushels, 
should be used to the acre ; in mixtures, 4 to 6 pounds. 

Mr. Klippart, of Ohio, says that this grass is very much in favor in 
Southern Ohio, whilst in i^orthern and Northeastern Ohio it is considered 
a very unwelcome guest in the grass lands. This diiference of estima- 
tion is probably due to varieties, or to alteration of soil and to treat- 
ment. (Plate 97). 

PoA TRiviALis. (Rough -stalked Meadow grass.) 

This species very much resembles the Poa pratensis. It is distin- 
guished chiefly by its having rough sheaths, by its long, pointed lig- 
ules, its fibrous roots, and the smooth marginal nerves of the flowering 
glumes; whereas, in Poa pratensis, the sheaths are smooth, the ligules 
obtuse, the root-stock running, and the marginal nerves of the flower- 
ing glumes are hairy. It has been littlp cultivated by itself in this 
country, but is sometimes found in low meadows or on the banks of 
shaded streams. It flourishes best in low or wet ground and in shaded 
situations, and is not so well adapted to general cultivation as the blue 
grass. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

It is specially adapted to wood pastures, as it delights in shade, banks of streams, 
and moist ground generally. It bears tramping and is an excellent pasture grass. It 
makes a good mixture with red top and orchard grass, or red top and tall oat grass, 
and with other pasture grasses. 

PoA SEROTINA. (Fowl Mcadow grass.) 

Culms erect, 2 to 3 feet high, without running root-stocks. The leaves 
are narrowly linear, 3 to 6 inches long and two to three lines wide, the 
sheaths long, smooth, and striate, the ligules long. The panicle varies 



96 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



with the size of the plant from 5 to 10 or 12 inches long and 1 to 3 inches 
wide, and lax; the branches mostly in fives or more numerous, nearly 
erect, from 1 to 4 inches long, the longer ones subdivided and flowering 
above the middle. There are some mountain forms or varieties in 
which the culms are 1 foot or less in height and the panicle greatly re- 
duced. The spikelets are one to two lines long, two to live flowered, on 
short pedicels. The outer glumes are about one line long and sharp- 
pointed. The flowering glumes are rather obtuse, the lateral nerves 
not promineut, slightly j)ubescent on the margins below, and somewhat 
webby at the base. 

This sj^ecies is most common in the Northera States, particularly in 
New England, Xew York, and westward to Wisconsin, and also in re- 
duced forms in all mountainous districts. 

Mr. J. S. Gould, of New York, says : 

I have found it to grow on almost every kind of soil ; but it attains the greatest 
perfection in a rich moist one. It is one of those grasses that thrive best when com- 
bined with others it will not make a superior turf of itself, but it adds much to the 
value of a sward from its nutritive qualities and powers of early and late growth. As 
it perfects an abundance of seed it may be easily propagated. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

In portions of the Western States this grass has, for some years, been very highly 
recommended. In the Eastern States it has been cultivated for one hundred and fifty 
years or longer and valued highly. Jared Elliott, in 1749, spoke of it as growing tall 
and thick, making a more soft and pliable hay than timothy and better adapted for 
pressing and shipping for use of horses on shipboard. He says it makes a thick, abund- 
ant growth on land more moist than is adapted to common upland grasses, and may be 
mowed any time from June to October, as it never becomes so coarse and hard but the 
stalk is sweet aiid tender and eaten without waste. It has not been sutficieutly culti- 
vated in the Southern States, so far as I am aware, to know how long a meadow set 
with it may remain profitable. It is, however, worthy of extended trial. 

Mr. Charles L. Flint says: 

It grows abundantly in almost every part of New England, especially where it has 
been introduced and cultivated in suitable ground, such as the borders of rivers and 
intervals occasionally flooded. It never grows so coarse or hard but that the stalk is 
sweet and tender, and eaten without waste. It is easily made into hay, and is a nu- 
tritive and valuable grass. 

(Plate 98.) 

PoA COMPRESSA. (Wire grass. Blue grass.) 

This species has sometimes been confounded with the Kentucky blue 
grass, from which it differs in its flattened, decumbent, wiry stems, its 
shorter leaves and shorter, narrower, and more scanty panicle. It is 
tbund in many old pastures, on dry banks, and in open woods. The 
culms are hard and much flattened, 1 foot to 18 inches long, more or 
less decumbent, and frequently bent at the lower joints. The leaves 
are scanty, smooth, short, and of a dark bluish-green color. The pani- 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 97 



cle is short aud contracted, 1 to 3 iiiclies long. The branches are in 
pairs or threes, short, rough, and frequently one sided. The spikt'lets 
are ovate-oblong, flat, short-stalked, and generally three to five flo\Yeied. 
The outer glumes are acute, the flowering ones obtuse, smooth, the 
nerves obscure, and the a])ex frequently purplish colored. It forms a 
very firm turf by means of its creeping rootstalks. Very contradictory 
accounts have been given as to its agricultural value, some denouncing 
it as worthless and others entertaining a good opinion of it. It thrives- 
well on clay, or hard trodden and poor soils. 
Hon. J. S. Gould says, respecting it: 

It is certain that cows that feed upon it both in pasture and in hay give more milk 
and keep in better condition than when fed on any other grass. Horses fed on rhis 
hay will do as well as when fed on timothy hay and oats-combined. 

These discrepant opinions may be due in part to having mistaken the 
Poa pratensis for this grass. It is probably a nutritious grass, but from 
its spare yield can hardly obtain much favor for a hay crop. (Plate 99.) 

Poa arachnifera. (Texas Blue grass.) 

This species was first described by Dr. John Torrey in the report of 
Captain Marcy's exploration of tHe Eed River of Louisiana, as having 
been found on the headwaters of the Trinity, and named Foa arachnifera 
from the profuse webby hairs growing about the flowers, altliough it is 
found that this character is very variable, probably depending some- 
what on the amount of shade or exposure to which the grass is subject. 
- Several years ago Mr. Hogan, of Texas, sent specimens of the grass 
to this Department, and as it was shown to be a relative of the Kentucky 
blue grass, Mr. Hogan adopted for the common name Texas blue grass. 
We give some extracts from his letters relating to the grass : 

I find it is spreading rapidly over the country, and I claim for it all and more in Texas 
than is awarded to the Poa pratensis in Kentucky. It seems to be indigenous to all 
the prairie country between the Trinity River aud the Brazos in our State. It blooms 
here about the last of March, and ripens its seeds by the 15th of April. Stock of all 
kinds, and even poultry, seem to prefer it to wheat, rye, or anything else gro \vn in winter. 
It seems to have all the characteristics of Poa prafensis, only it is much larger, and 
therefore affords more grazing. I have known it to grow 10 inches in ten days during 
the winter. The coldest winters do not even nip it, and although it seems to die down 
during summer it springs up as soon as the first rains fall in September and grows all 
winter. I have known it in cultivation some five years, and have never been able to 
find a fault in it. It will be ready for pasture in three or four weeks after the first 
rains in the latter part of August or first of September. I have never cut it for hay _ 
Why should a man want hay when he can have greeu grass to feed his stock on ? 

Mr. James E. Webb, of Greensborough, Hale County, Alabama, writes 
to the Department December 26, 1883, and says : 

Recent experiments show that the Texas blue grass {Poa arachnifera) ^ounshes and 
grows here in west Alabama as finely as could be wished, and is likely « ie long to 
furnish us what we so much need, a fine winter grass. With Texas blue gi ass, Meli- 
lotus, and Bermuda grass, Alabama is a fine stock country. 
2218 GR 7 



98 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Mr. S. 0. Tally, of Ellis County, Texas, has sent specimens of this 
l>Tass ; he says it is abundant there, bears heavy pasturing, and makes 
a beautiful yard or lawn grass. 

Similar favorable accounts have been received from others. It is 
likely to prove one of the most valuable grasses for the South and South- 
west. By means of its strong stolons or offshoots it multiplies rapidly 
and makes a dense permanent sod. It produces an abundance of radi- 
cal leaves, and those of the culm are long, smooth, and of good width, 
abovit 4 to 8 inches long and two lines wide. The culms are 2 to 3 feet 
high, each with two or three leaves, with long sheaths and blade, the 
upper leaf sometimes reaching nearly to the top of the iianicle. The 
ligule is short and rounded, or lacerated when old. The panicle is from 
3 to 8 inches in length, rather narrow, and with short, erect branches 
of unequal length, in clusters of from three to five, the longest seldom 
2 inches, most of them short, some nearly sessile, and profusely flower- 
ing to the base. The spikelets usually contain about five flowers. The 
outer glumes are ovate-lanceolate, acute, with whitish scarious margins, 
and scabrous on the keel. Tlie flowering glumes are longer, gradually 
sharp i)ointed, and smooth excei)t on the margins and miduerve, which 
are usually pubescent, sometimes densely so. In many cases there is a 
remarkable development of long, silky hairs at the base of each flower, 
but sometimes these are quite absent. (Plate 100.) 

PoA TENUIFOLIA. (Oregon Blue grass.) 

There is some uncertainty about the proper specific name of this 
grass. In the report for 1881-82 it was published as Poa Californicaj 
but it seems probable that that name belongs to a different species. It 
is common in California, Oregon, and Washington Territory, and is one 
of the numerous bunch grasses referred to in accounts of the wild pas- 
turage of that country. The foliage of some forms of the grass seems 
to be too scanty, but of others the radical leaves are long and abun- 
dant. It furnishes an abundance of nutritious seeds, which are said to 
be gathered for food by Indians. 

The culms are from IJ to 3 feet high, erect, and scantily clothed 
with a few short, narrow leaves. The i^anicle is erect, 3 to 5 inches 
long, rather narrow and loose, the branches mostly in fives, unequal, 
from 4 to IJ inches long, flowering above the middle. The spikelets 
are three to five flowered ; the outer glumes are oblong-lanceolate, about 
two lines long, nearly as long as the flowers, three-nerved, rough on the 
keel, somewhat scabrous, and acutish. The flowering glumes are lance- 
olate, convex, or slightly compressed toward the apex, indistinctly five, 
nerved, two to three lines long, acutish, minutely scabrous, the apex and 
margins scarious and of a bronze or purplish color, sometimes slightly 
pubescent near the base. The palet is almost as long as its glume, nar- 
, rower and bidentate at the apex. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 99 



It is probable that this species, by careful cultivation, may be made 
as valuable in agriculture for the region where it grows as the Poapra- 
tensis is in the Eastern States. (Plate 101.) 

PoA ALSODES. (Tall Spcar-grass, Woods grass, Wood iSpear grass.) 

A species of spear-grass of, probably, no great agricultural value, but 
found in mountainous districts in the northern parts of the United 
States, in woods and on hill sides in Kew England, ISTew York, the 
mountainous parts of Pennsylvania, and westward to Wisconsin. The 
culms are 2 to 2J feet high, slender, erect, and with about three nar- 
rowly-linear leaves, each 3 to 4 inches long. The panicle is about 6 
inches long, very open, and composed of about four whorls of branches, 
chiefly in fours, the lower ones distant, very slender, 2 to 3 inches long^ 
and with few flowers only toward the extremity of the branches. The 
species may most readily be distinguished by the acute flowers. The 
spikelets are about two lines long, chiefly three-flowered. All the glumes 
are acutely-pointed, the flowering ones obscurely nerved, and with a 
narrow tuft of long, Avebby hairs at the base. 

Mr. J. S. Gould says : 

It flourishes ou moimtaiu sides from 1,000 to 3,000 feet above tlie sea, but is very 
well adapted for lawns and for tbick, sbady places, wbere few other kinds will grow. 
The seeds weigh about 15 pounds to the bushel. • 

. (Plate 102.) 

PoA ANDINA OF i^^UTTALL. (Mountain Spear grass.) 

A perennial tufted grass, with short, narrow, rigid, and pungently 
pointed leaves, usually involute ; the culms are 6 to 18 inches high, 
smooth, or nearly so, wiry and naked, except about two very short 
leaves, the blade an inch long, or almost wanting. The panicle is 2 to 
4 iuches long, narrow, erect, and rather loose, the branches mostly in 
pairs, which are erect, about an incb long, and flowering for the upper 
two-thirds, or nearly throughout. The spikelets are three to five flow- 
ered, and nearly sessile; the outer glumes are one and a half lines long, 
nearly equal, thin, ovate-lanceolate, acute or acutish, the margins scari- 
ous, the lower one-nerved, and the upper obscurely three-nerved, mi- 
nutely scabrous 5 the flowering glumes are oblong, obtuse, or obtusish, 
slightly compressed, rounded on the back, at least below, obscurely 
nerved, softly and finely pubescent and below villous ; the apex scari- 
ous and tinged with purple, sometimes denticulate or lacerated ,• the 
palets are as long as their glumes, and imbescent on the nerves. The 
flowers separate very readily and drop oft' early. 

This grass prevails widely throughout the region of the great plains 
and table lands from Arizona to British America. Little is known of its 
agricultural value. (Plate 103.) 



100 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



PoA AjN^jSUA. (Annual Si)ear grass, Goose grass.) 

Tbis grass is a native of Europe, but has become extensively natur- 
alized in this and man^^ other countries. It is an annual or biennial 
species of low growth, usually 3 or 4 to 6 or 10 in ches high, with pale- 
green, tender leaves. It is commonly found in door-yards or neglected 
lots or on the roadside. It blooms very early in the spring, and also- 
frequently iu the fall. It is very nutritious, but so small that the yield 
is deficient in quantity. It appears to die at the approach of hot 
weather. 

Poa Jfexuosa, Poa hrevifolia, Poa debilis, and Poa sylrestris^ are species 
growing in woods or shaded grounds in different parts of the country,. 
South and East, but are not of much agricultural importance. 

Glyceria. 

This genus is closely related to Poa, and is characterized as follows : 
Spikelets terete or flattish, several to many flowered, the axis of the 
flowers smooth, the outer glumes shorter than the flowers, unequal^ 
membranaceous, one to three nerved, the flowering glumes membrana- 
ceous or subcoriaceous, obtuse, awnless, more or less hyaline, and finely- 
toothed or worn at the apex, rounded (not keeled) on the back, five to 
nine nerved, the nerves separate and all vanishing before reaching the 
apex ; palet about as long as its glume, two-keeled, entire or bifid at 
the apex. 

The species of this genus are not of much agricultural importance. 
They mostly grow in wet or swampy ground, and where found in 
abundance can be utilized for pasturage or hay-making. 

Glyceria aquatica. (Reed Meadow grass. White Spear grass.) 

This species is widely diffused in the northern portions of the United 
States, Canada, the Eocky Mountains, and the Northwestern States 
and Territories. It has a stout, erect, leafy culm, 3 to 4 feet high. 
The leaves are a foot or two long, a quarter to half an inch wide, flat, 
and somewhat rough, especially on the edges. The panicle is large, 9' 
to 15 inches long, much branched ; the branches arranged in half 
whorls alternately on the main axis, at first erect, but spreading with 
age. The spikelets are oblong, about three lines long, five to nine flow- 
ered, on capillary pedicels. Thelower third of the branches is naked. The 
outer glumes are one-nerved, and unequal. The flowering glumes are 
obtuse, prominently seven nerved or ribbed, mostly entire at the apex. 
The palet is two-toothed, two-nerved, and about as long as its glume. 

Hon. J. S. Gould says: 

This grass is made into Lay which is liked by cattle. It flowers iu July. It is 
found in most parts of Europe, and is Avidely diffused iu this country iu wettish 
meadows. 

It is doubtf ul if the European grass of this name is identical with the 
American one, although much resembling it. (Plate 104.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 101 



Olyceria nervata. (Nerved Meadow grass, ^^"erved Manna grass.) 

This is similar in appearance and habit to the preceding, but gen- 
-erally smaller. It has also much the same general range. The culms 
are 2 to 3 feet high, usually somewhat decumbent below, often branch- 
ing and rooting at the lower joints. It varies greatly in size and in the 
magnitude of the i)anicle. It usually grows along the wet margins of 
streams and in swamps. The panicle is from 4 to 8 inches long, nod- 
ding wlien young, loose and spreading, with capillary branches. The 
leaves are 8 to 12 inches long, and two to three lines wide. The spikelets 
are small, about five-flowered, oblong, frequently becoming i^urplish 
with age. The outer glumes are unequal, obtuse, thin, and small, neitlier 
•of them much more than half as long as the flowers. The flowering' 
glumes are obtuse, oblong, prominently five to .seven ribbed, and en- 
tire or minutely ciliate at the apex. The palet is as long as its glumes, 
two-nt%ved, two-toothed at the apex. Like theijreceding this grows in 
wet meadows and swamps. It is nutritious and might be advan- 
tageously mixed with other grasses in Avet or swampy grounds. 

Mr. Charles L. Flint says: 

It is a liardy grass, grows best on moist groimd, but is said to succeed also on 
liglitisli upland soils. It is a very valuable native grass, retaining its nutritive 
■qualities until the seed is ripe, and tben sending up large fan-like shoots which are 
succulent and nutritious. It would be a A^aluable ingredient in a mixture for wet or 
moist pastures. 

. (Plate 105.) 

»Glyceria Canadensis. (Rattlesnake grass, Tall quaking grass.) 

A grass belonging to the northern portion of the United States, nsuallj^ 
found in mountainous districts, in swamps, and river borders, growing 
in clumps. The culms are stout, about 3 feet high, smooth and leafy* 
The leaves are linear-lanceolate, 6 to 9 inches long, oi? the lower ones 
much longer, about four lines broad and rather rigid. The panicle is 
large and effuse, 6 to 9 inches long, oblong x^yramidal, and at length 
•drooping. The whorls are an inch or more distant, the branches semi- 
verticillate, mostly in threes, the largest 3* to 4 inches long, and sub- 
divided from near the base. The S])ikelets are oblong to ovate, when 
mature nearly three lines long, rather turgid, but flattened at the sides, 
usually six to eight flowered. The empty glumes are shorter than the 
flowering glumes, ovate-lanceolate, acute, purplish, the upper onelargest. 
The flowering glumes are broadly ovate, acute, five to seven nerv^ed, one 
and one-half to two lines long. The palets are shorter than their glumes 
and thicker in texture, roundish, and obtuse, with the sides strongly 
Teflexed. 

This is quite an ornamental grass, resembling the quaking grass 
'{Briza). Cattle are fond of it, both green and when made into hay. It 
as well adapted to low meadows. 



102 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Hon. J. S. Gould says : 

It is usually found on high elevations, in swampy lands, and by the margins of 
streams. It is very apt to grow in clumps. It is one of the most beautiful of grasses^ 
and is exeeediDgly ornamental in grass boquets. It is abundant on the Catskill and 
White Mountains and on the Raquette waters of the Adirondacks. Cattle eat it very 
well in pasture and when made into hay. 

(Plate 106.) 

Glyceria fluitans. (Floating Manna grass.) 

This species grows in shallow water on the margins of lakes, ponds^ 
and sluggish streams. Its cuhns are usually 3 to 4 feet high, rather 
thick and succulent and quite leafy. The leaves are 4 to 9 inches long 
and three to four lines wide. The panicle is often a foot long, very narrow^ 
tlie short distant branches mostly in twos or threes, 1 or 2 inches longv 
erect and close, each having usually two to four spikelets. The spike- 
lets are half an inch to three-quarters of an inch in length, rath^ cylin- 
drical and nearly of the same thickness throughout, seven to thirteen 
flowered. The outer glumes are membranaceous and one-nerved. The 
flowering glumes are about two lines long, oblong, convex on theroughish 
back, rather thick, with a thin, scarious entire apex. The palets are as- 
long or sometimes longer than their glumes and minutely two-toothed. 

Hon. J. S. Gould says : 

This grass is found growing in shallow water, overflowed meadows and wet woods, 
but will bear cultivation on moderately dry grounds. Schreber says that it is culti- 
vated in several parts of Germany for the sake of the seeds, which form the manna 
crop of the shops, and are considered a great delicacy in soups and gruels. When 
ground into meal they make bread very little inferior to that made from wheat. In 
Poland large quantities of the seeds are obtained for culinary purposes. All graniv- 
erous birds are exceedingly fond of these seeds. Trout and indeed most fish are very 
fond of them ; wherever it grows over the banks of streamsthe trout are always found 
in great numbers waiting to catch every seed that falls. There is a great difference 
of opinion among agricultural writers with respect to the fondness of animals for the- 
leaves and culms of this grass. We have often seen the ends of the leaves cropped by 
cattle, but have never seen the culms or root-leaves touched by them. On the other 
hand, reliable writers have asserted that cattle, horses, and swine were alike fond 
of it. 

Festuca. 

This is a large genus, of which we have some fifteen native and 
several introduced species. The genus is characterized as follows : 
Spikelets, three to many flowered, variously panicled, pedicellate ; 
axis of the spikelets not hairy, outer glumes unequal, shorter than the 
flowers, the lower one-nerved and the upper three-nerved, narrow,, 
keeled, acute; flowering glumes membranaceous, chartaceous, or sub- 
coriaceous, narrow, rounded on the back (not keeled), more or less dis- 
tinctly three to five nerved, acute, or commonly tapering into a straight 
awn, rarely obtusish; palet narrow, flat, prominently two-nerved or two- 
keeled. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 103 



Festuca elatior. (Meadow Fescue grass, Tall Fescue, Randall grass, 

Evergreen grass.) 
A perennial grass, growing from 2 to 4 feet high, with flat, broadish 
leaves about a foot long. The panicle is somewhat one-sided, loose^ 
and spreading when in flower, contracted after flowering, from 6 to 
10 inches long, the branches 1 to 2 inches long, erect, mostly in pairs 
below, single above, subdivided; the spikelets are lanceolate or linear, 
about half an inch long, five to ten flowered. The outer glumes are 
one and three nerved, shorter than the flowers; the flowering glumes 
are lanceolate, about three lines long, firm in texture, five-nerved, scari- 
ous at the margin, acute, and sometimes with a short but distinct awn 
at the apex. This is an introduced species, now frequently met with 
in meadows; it is one of the standard meadow grasses of Europe* 
Cattle are said to be very fond of it, both green and as hay. There is 
a smaller form or variety which is the variety pratensis or Festuca pra- 
tensis, Hudson. 

Professor Killebrew, of Tennessee, writes of this grass as follows: 

This grass has received some attention in different parts of the State, and has met 
with a warm reception from those testing it. It ripens its seed long before any other 
grass, and consequently affords a very early nip to cattle. It has been raised under 
various names, in Virginia as " Randall grass," and in North Carolina as ''evergreen 
grass." Mr. James Taylor, writing from North Carolina, says: "The evergreen grass 
is very good for pasturing through the fall and winter. It will do best when sown 
on dry land, and is well adapted to sheep. It grows well on rocky soil to the height 
of 4 or 5 feet when ripe, continuing green in the spring, and affording fine herbage 
throughout the winter. It is best to sow in the spring with oats. A peck of well- 
cleaned seed is enough for an acre, or a bushel in the chaff\ It ripens about the 1st 
of June. If sown in the spring this grass will not go to seed before the next year, 
but if sown in the fall it will bring seed the next spring." From the limited culti- 
vation it has met with in Tennessee, it seems rather to be better adapted to moist, low- 
lands, though I have seen it growing on some of the high ridges of East Tennes- 
see, at least 1,500 feet above the sea. There ifc thrives luxuriantly and makes a very 
superior pasture. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

It grows well in nearly all situations, wet or dry, on hill or bottom land, even 
though subject to overflow, and matures an extraordinary quantity of seed. The 
seeds germinate readily, and it is easy to set a piece of land with this grass. Seeded 
alone, 28 pounds, or about 2 bushels, of seed should be sown broadcast in August, Sep- 
tember, October, or from the middle of February to the 1st of April. From remain- 
ing green through the winter it is sometimes called " evergreen grass." Mowed and 
dried it makes a good hay, much relished by stock. 

(Plate 107.) 

Festuca ovina. (Sheep's Fescue grass.) 

A densely-tufted, perennial grass, with an abundance of rather nar- 
row, sometimes involute, short radical leaves and slender culms, 1 to 
1^ feet high. The panicle is 2 to 4 inches long, narrow, the branches 
mostly single and alternate, erect and few-floweied ; the spikelets are 



104 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



mostly tbree to five flowered, and about three lines long; the outer 
glumes are acute and narrow. The flowering glumes are lanceolate, 
tuo lines long, roughish, and with a short rough awn about half a line 
long. 

This species has many varieties, both in this country and in Europe. 
It is indigenous in the mountainous parts of New England, in the Eocky 
Hountains, and in various Northern localities. 

As found in cultivation it has been derived from Europe. 

Hon. J. Gould, of New York, says : 

It forms the great bulk of llie slieep pastures of the highlauds of Scotland, where 
it is the favorite food of the sheep, and where the shepherds believe it to be more 
nutritious for their flocks than any other. Gmelin says that the Tartars choose to 
encamp during the summer where this grass is most abundant, because they believe 
that it affords the most wholesome food for all cattle, but especially for sheep. Nat- 
ure distributes it among dry, sandy, and rocky soils, where scarcely any other species 
would grow. It is without doubt the very best of the grasses growing on sandy soils. 
It roots deeijly, and forms a dense, short turf, which adapts it admirably for lawns 
aud pleasure-grounds where the soil is sandy. It is almost useless as a hay crop, as 
its leaves and culms are too fine to give a remunerative amount of hay ; it is only as 
a pasture grass on sandy soils that it is valuable, and in these, when highly manured, 
it is driven out by the more succulent species. It is often found 4,000 feet above the 
level of the sea. Its seeds weigh about 14 pounds to the bushel. 

(Plate 108.) 

Festuca microstachys. (Small Fescue grass, Western Fescue.) 

A slender annual grass, which is very common in California aud 
Oregon, considerably like the small fescue [Festuca tenella). The culms 
are slender, 6 to 18 inches high ; the leaves are short and narrow. The 
panicle is from 2 to 5 inches long, with rather distant short branches, 
which are mostly single at the joints, and apt to be one-sided, some- 
times with the lower branches spreading or reflexed. The spikelets are 
small, from two to five flowered, on short, thickened i)edicels, varying 
from smooth to pubescent. The outer glumes are acute, about a line 
long. The flowering glumes are two or three lines long, with an awn 
nearly twice as long ; the palets have each two short, bristle-like teeth, 
which often i^roject beyond the flowering glume. The grass is of little 
value, except as it helps to extend the pasturage of uncultivated ground. 
(Plate 109.) 

Festuca scabrella. (Bunch grass.) 

A perennial grass, growing in strong clumps or bunches, and hence 
called ''bunch grass." It is a native of the Eocky Mountain region, 
from Colorado westward to California and Oregon. The culms are usu- 
ally 2 to 3 feet high, erect, and smooth 5 the radical leaves are numerous, 
about half as long as the culm, generally rigid, involute, and scabrous 
on the margins 5 the blade is prone to separate when old, leaving an 
abundance of leafless sheaths at the base ; the cauline leaves are about 
two, short and pointed, 2 to 4 inches long; the sheath scabrous, the lig- 
ule short or wanting; the panicle is usually 3 to 5 inches long; the 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 105 



rays spreading", 1 to 3 iuches long, distant, usually in pairs below, single 
above, subdivided to the middle ; spikelets five to six lines long, three 
to five flowered, the flowers rattier distant ; outer glumes ovate-lanceo- 
late, membranaceous, acute or acuteish, obscurely nerved, the upper 
one two lines long, the lower one-third shorter ; flowering glumes lanceo- 
late, acute, or short cuspidate, about five-nerved, minutely scabrous, of 
thicker texture than the outer glumes j palet as long as its glume, two- 
nerved, bifid at the apex. 

This grass varies greatly in size and appearance in different locali- 
ties, one form in Oregon and California growing 3 to 5 feet high, with 
l^anicle twice as large as the mountain form. Cattle are said to be fond 
of it, and it is considered one of the most valuable wild grasses of the 
region where it grows. (Plate 110.) 

Eromus. 

Spikelets five to many flowered, subterete or compressed, the axis 
smooth; the outer glumes more or less unequal, shorter than the flow- 
ers, membranaceous, a(*ute, one to nine nerved, awuless or short mu- 
cronate; flowering glumes, membranaceous to rigid-subcoriaceous, 
rounded on the back, or comi)ressed or keeled, five to nine nerved, 
acute or awned from below the mostly two-cleft apex; palet commonly 
rather shorter than its glume, two keels, the keels rigid and ciliate. 

Beomus secaltnus. (Chess or Cheat.) 

We introduce this grass, not to recommend its cultivation, but to 
familiarize those interested with its appearance and character. Many 
farmers know^ it well, as it occurs in their wheat fields. It is an old 
tradition, which some farmers still cling to, that chess is a degenerated 
wheat; that the action of frost and other causes occasion the deteriora- 
tion, whereas the truth undoubtedly is that chess seed was either in the 
land or in the seed sown, and being more hardy than wheat it survived 
the frost and took possession of the ground. Some years ago this grass 
had a temporary popularity under the name of Willard's Brome grass, 
but it was soon abandoned when brought into comi)etition with better 
grasses. ^ 

It has a stout upright culm, 2 to 3 feet high, the panicle being from 
4 to 6 iuches long, rather spreading, and the large spikelets somewhat 
drooiDing when ripe. Usually there are three to five branches at each 
joint of the panicle; these branches are of different lengths, from ^ 
inch to 2 inches, and each with one to three spikelets. The spikelets 
are usually from five to ten flowered; the glumes unequal, nerved, 
shorter than the flowers ; the flowering glume Is convex or compressed, 
keeled on the back, with an awn variable in length from below the 
point. 

In the South it wmild perhaps be a good winter grass, like its relative 
Bromus unioloides, but it is not as vigorous a grass as tliat species, and 
does not produce such an abundance of foliage. (Plate 111.) 



106 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES, 



Bromus unioloides. (Schrader's grass, Eescue grass.) 

This is one of the so-called winter grasses ; that is, it makes in the 
South a large share of its growth during«the winter months. It belongs 
to the chess or cheat family. In its early growth it spreads and pro- 
duces a large amount of leaves ; early in the spring it sends up its flower 
stalks, which grow about 3 feet high, with a large, open, spreading 
panicle, the ends of the branchlets bearing the large flattened spikelets,. 
which, when mature, hang gracefully upon their stems, giving them 
quite an ornamental appearance. These spikelets are from 1 inch to 1 J 
inches in length, and composed of two acute lanceolate glumes at the 
base, and from seven to ten flowers arranged in two rows alternate on 
each side of the axis. The flowers are lanceolate, or ovate-lanceolate^, 
the flowering glume extending into a fine point or short awn. 

During several years past this grass has been sent to this Department^, 
chiefly from Louisiana and Texas, and has been much commended. 
Many years since the same grass was distributed and experimented 
with under the name of Australian oats, or Bromus Schraderi. It is not 
adapted to use in a country with severe winters, and hence did not give 
satisfaction in all iflaces. Mr. C. Mohr, of Mobile, says of it : 

Ouly of late years found spreading in different parts of this State; makes its ap- 
pearance in February, grows in tufts, its numerous leafy stems growing from 2 to 3^ 
feet high ; it ripens the seed in May ; affords in the earlier months of spring a mnch-^ 
relished nutritious food, as well as a good hay. 

Under date of March 4, 1878, Mr. Williams writes from San Antonio^^ 
Tex., describing the introduction and spreading of a patch of this grass ^ 
He says : 

Inasmuch as Western Texas is the great stock-producing section of the Southwest^, 
and considering the fact that pasturage is scanty, particularly in February, stunting, 
the growth of young cattle, this seems wonderfully adapted to supply just what is 
greatly wanted, both for milch cows, calves, colts, and ewes just dropping their lambs; 
and besides, this grass grows well on the thinnest soil and crowds out weeds, maturing- 
in March and early April, while not interfering with the native mesquite. L therefore 
regard this grass as a wonderful and most important discovery. 

This grass is said to have been introduced into Georgia by General- 
Iverson, of Columbus, and by him called rescue grass. T^e favorable- 
opinion which it at first received does not seem to have been well sus- 
tained in that State. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

This grass is also called Bromus Schraderi, B. WiUdcnovii, Ceratochloa unioloides, and 
Fesiuca unioloides. It is an annual winter grass. It varies in the time of starting: 
growth. I have seen it ready for mowing the first of October, and furnish frequent 
cuttings till April. Again, it may not start before January, nor be ready to cut till 
February. This depends on the moisture and depression of temperature of the fall,, 
the seeds germinating only at a low temperature. When once started, its growth 
after the successive cuttings or grazings is very rapid. It is tender, very sweet, and. 
stock eat it greedily. It makes also a good hay. It produces an immense quantity 
of leaves. On loose soil some of it may be pulled up by animals grazing it. 

(Plate 112.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. lOT 

Bromus erectus. (Erect Brome grass.) 

This is a European species, which has become sparingly naturalized 
in some places. It is a perennial grass, growing about 2J feet high,, 
the culms erect, firm, and smooth. The leaves are narrowdy linear, 
mostly radical, or at the base of the stem. The panicle is somewhat 
oblong in outline, 5 or 6 iuches long, the branches mostly in fives, 1 to 
2 inches long, slender, erect, not much subdivided, and each terminated 
with the pretty large spikelet of seven to nine flowers. The spikelets 
are about 1 inch long. The empty glumes are lanceolate, thinnish, 
acute, rather shorter than the flowering glumes, which are about five liries 
long, linear-lanceolate, slightly rough, aud pointed with an awn of half 
to three-quarters its own length. 

This species is not so coarse as many of the brome grasses, aud will 
be more useful for hay. It is of the same genus as chess or cheat, but 
is very different from and should not be confounded with broom grass,, 
which is an Audropogon and much less valuable. (Plate 113.) 

We have several other native species of this genus, and there are 
several species growing in California, Oregon, and the mountain region 
of the Pacific slope. The most important of these is the Bromus grandi- 
florus, which is in mauy respects like the Bromus unioloides^ but of a 
larger growth and with larger spikelets. Bromus mollis, Bromus race- 
mosus, Bromus sterilis, and some other European species are occasion- 
ally found introduced. 

LoLiUM PERENNE. (Rye grass and Italian Eye grass.) 

A perennial grass, introduced from Europe. The culms are 2 to 3- 
feet high, very leafy, and terminating in a loose, spike-like panicle, 6 
inches or more in length. The spikelets are arranged alternately on 
the axis, placed edgewise; that is, with one edge of the flat spikelet 
applied to the main stem at short distances, so that there may be twenty 
or more in the panicle. The spikelets are one-half to three-fourths of an 
inch long ; generally seven to eleven flowered. The inner empty glume 
is generally wanting, so that, except on the terminal spikelet, only one 
glume is apparent, which is half or more than half the length of the 
spikelet, narrowly lanceolate, and acute. The general appearance of 
the panicle is like that of couch grass (Tritimim repeiis). The flowering 
glumes are thickish, obscurely nerved, rather hispid, acutely pointed,, 
or in the variety Italicum, with a longish awn. The proper palets are 
similar to the flowering glumes and of nearly equal length. 

An intelligent writer, whom we have frequently quoted, says respect- 
ing this grass : 

It occupies the same place in Great Britain that timothy does with us, and is there 
esteemed on the whole higher than any other species of grass, and is called rj-e grass 
or ray grass. Of all the varieties of LoUum perenne which are known that called 
liaUcum is by far the most valuable. Its spikelets are conspicuously bearded, the- 
flowers being all terminated by long, slender awns, which character distiugnishes it 
very easily from LoUum perenne. Its name (Italian rye grass) is derived from the fact 



108 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



tliat its native habitat is ou tlie plains of Lorabardy, where broad and extensive 
plains of pasture land are frequently inundated by the mountain streams which inter- 
sect them. It is mainly adapted to irrigated meadows, and in these it is undoubtedly 
superior to any other grass. 

Professor Pliares says : 

This grass stands drought well and grows most luxuriantly in our Southern States. 
If not kept grazed or mowed, however, the leaves cover the ground so deeply and 
densely that an excess of rain in very hot weather in the extreme South causes it to 
rot suddenly, destroying even the roots. This I have never seen or heard mentioned 
by any other person, but it occurred on my own farm one season, where I was reserv- 
ing a lot for seed. 

Hon. J. S. Gould says : 

The valuable qualities of this grass, may be summed up as follows: Its habit of 
■coming early to maturity; its rapid reproduction after cutting; its wonderful adapt- 
ation to all domestic animals, which is shown by the extreme partiality they manifest 
for it, either alone or when mixed with other grasses, whether Avheu used as green 
food for soiling, as hay or as pasturage, in which latter stage its stems are never 
billowed to ripen and wither like those of other grasses. One of its greatest recom- 
mendations is its beneficial influence on the dairy, not only in augmenting the flow 
of milk, but in improving the flavor of the cheese and butter that are made from it. 

(Plate 114.) 

AGROPYRU^i. (Triticum.) 

This genus is by many botanists considered as a section of Triticum, 
and our species are best known under that name. Tha spikelets are 
usually from three to five flowered, compressed, alternately sessile on 
the continuous or slightly notched axis of the simple spike and with 
the side of the spikelets against the axis ; the outer glumes are nearly 
equal membranaceous or herbaceous, one to three nerved, scarcely 
keeled, tapering to a point, or awued ; flowering glumes similar to the 
outer ones, but generally broader, rounded on the back, three to seven 
nerved, pointed or awued from the apex; the palet nearly as long as 
its glume, the two prominent nerves almost marginal and ciliate. 

Agropyrum REPENS. {THticum repens.) (Couch grass, Quack grass, 
Quitch grass. Wheat grass, Twitch grass, Dog grass.) 

There has been a good deal of discussion relative to this grass, some 
pronouncing it one of the vilest of weeds, and others claiming for it 
high nutritive qualities overweighing all the disadvantages of its 
growtli. Whichever party may be right, it is proper that farmers 
should be acquainted with it in order to know how to treat it, and hence 
our figure and description. It forms a dense sod by means of its far- 
reaching rhizomas or root-stalks, which have short joints, and root tena- 
ciously at every joint. 

It has an abundance of foliage, and sends up a flowering culm, 2 to 3 
feet high, which is terminated by a close, narrow spike of flowers from 
3 to G inches long. This spike consists of a succession of closely -set 
spikelets, one at each joint of the axis, and placed flatwise with the side 

4 



THE AGRICULTUEAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 10^ 



agaiust the stalk. Each spikelet contains several {three to eight) flow- 
ers, with a pair of nearly equal and opposite three to live nerved glumes 
at the base. 

This grass as it occurs in the Eastern States is supposed to be intro- 
duced from Europe, but ou the great Western plains and in the Eocky 
Mountains there are several varieties of it which are undoubtedly in- 
digenous, as also several other species in the same region. 

Hon. J. S. Gould says : 

The farmers of the United States unite in one continuous howl of excreation against 
this grass, audit seems strange, when every man's hand is against it, tliat it is not 
exterminated. Yet "we could never really satisfy ourselves that its presence in mead- 
ows and X'ftstnres was such an unmitigated curse. In lauds Avhere alternate hus- 
bandry is xjracticed, it must be admitted to be an e^ilof great magnitude. Itshardi- 
ness is such, and its rapidity of growth is so great that it springs up much mover 
rapidly than any other crop that can be planted, and chokes it. Still it has many 
virtues. It is perfectly cosmopolitan in its habits. It is found in all sorts of soils 
and climates. Its creepiug roots are succulent, and very nutritive, and are greedily 
devovoured by horses and cows. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says: 

This is perennial, with stem 2 or 2^ feet high, so much like wheat as to be called also- 
wheat grass. Cattle eat it heartily when green, and cut early it makes a good hay. 
But it tills the ground with roots, is as difficult to cultivate amongst aud exterminate 
as coco or nut grass ; and hogs are as fond of aud root up the ground as industriously 
to obtain the roots. Cows and horses are also fond of them. It should be destroyed 
as soon as found in cultivated ground, but it is very valuable in permanent pastures^ 

(Plate 115.) 

Agropyrum GLAUCU3I. (Blue Stem, Blue joint.) 

This species, which has also been considered a variety of the preced- 
ing, prevails on the Western i^lains from Texas to Montana, and is well 
known to stockmen. It differs from the A. repens in having a stouter,, 
more rigid stem and leaves , the leaves, indeed, often becoming involute 
and stift'. It is also of a light bluish-green color. The spike is gen- 
erally shorter, denser, and with larger spikelets. 

Mr. Eichard Gaines, of Colorado Springs, Colo., says : 

We think this is the best grass grown, superior to timothy or clover. We call it 
blue stem, or blue joint ; no richer hay can be made from anything known. 

HoRDEUM N0D0SU3I. (Barley grass.) 

An annual or biennial grass, growing principally in alkaline soils and 
on the borders of saline marshes, especially in the Western States and 
Territories. Although eaten by cattle when in a young state, it cannot 
be claimed as of anything more than temporary' value. The culms are 
usually 1 to 1^ feet high, sometimes in moist places reaching 3 feet, and 
varying as to smoothness or pubescence. The leaves are usually flat^ 
2 to 4 inches long, and about two lines wide. The flowers are in a close, 
cjiiudrical spike, about 2 inches long, with three spikelets at each joint 
of the rachis. One (the central) spikelet is sessile and perfect; the two 



110 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



lateral ones are sliort-stalked and imperfect or abortive. Each of tlie 
spikelets bas a pair of empty glumes, wliicli are narrowly lanceolate 
and awn-pointed, or the lateral ones may be reduced to rough bristles. 
The flowering glume of the perfect flower is lanceolate, indistinctly three- 
nerved, and terminated by an aw^n one-quarter to one-half inch long, 
equaling those of the empty glumes. The proper palet is inclosed in 
its glume, is of about the same length as that, excluding the awn, and 
of thinner texture. (Plate 116.) 

HoRDEu:\i JUBATUM. (Wild barley, Squirrel tail grass.) 

This species has the same general characters as the preceding, but 
the flowers have awns 2 inches or more long, giving it a bushy and rather 
handsome appearance. It is frequently found in wet or marshy places, 
and is of no agricultural value. 

HORDIUM MURINUM. 

Professor Brewer states that this grass, unfortnnately is extensively 
naturalized in California, and is a vile pest; it comes in when land is 
overstocked ; is known there as Squirrel grass," " Squirrel tail," ^' Fox 
tail," and " White oats." The heads break up and the barbed seeds 
w^ork into the wool of slieei), and even into the flesh of lambs, killing 
them. It damages tne eyes and throats of animals. 

Elymus. (Wild rye.) 

Of this genus we have several species. Its general characters are as 
follows : Spikelets iu a simple, generally stout, spike, sessile, two to four 
at each joint of the axis, one to six flowered ; outer glumes two for each 
spikelet, nearly side by side in front, forming a kind of involucre for the 
cluster, narrow, rigid, one to three nerved, acuminate or awned ; flow- 
ering glumes herbaceous, thick and harsh, oblong or lanceolate, rounded 
on the back, not keeled, acute, or awned ; i)alet shorter than its glume^ 
acute, two-keeled. 

Elymus Canadensis. (Wild rye, hyme grass, Terrell grass.) 

A perennial coarse grass, growing on river banks aud in rich shaded 
woods. Culms, 2 to,4 feet high, leafy, terminated by a cylindrical loose 
.S})ike, 4 to 8 inches long, with the spikelets placed at intervals of about 
half an inch on the axis. The spikelets are mostly in pairs at each joint, 
each comi)Osed of from three to Ave flowers. The glumes are narrow, 
strongly nerved, and tapering to an awn which is rather shorter than 
the awn of the flowers proper. The flowering glume of each flower is 
thick in texture, narrow, and extending into a long, somewhat curved, 
awn or beard, the palet with the awn being an inch or more in length. 
The palet is thinner in texture, obtuse, and not awned, fringed with 
short hairs on the margin. The spike is usually drooi>ing at the top, 
and rather graceful in appearance. The leaves are broad and rough, 
the lower ones 9 to 12 inches long. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. Ill 



In some localities this is common in low meadows, and is cut with 
■other native grasses for hay. If left until maturity it becomes too 
coarse to he of much value. In some portions of the Southern States 
1:his grass is known as Terrell grass from having been prominently 
brought to notice by Dr. Terrell, of Sparta, Ga. Mr. G. W. Howard 
writes concerning it, as follows: 

This grass will live on thin laud, but the soil, to make it valuable, must be rich — 
the richer the better. It lasts for years. I have kuowu it to occupy aucl flourish on 
the same fi-pot for tweuty years. Horses, sheep, and cattle are very fond of it during 
the winter and spring ; hogs reject it. Orchard, blue, or meadow-oat grass are either 
of them preferable to it where they thrive. Whatever doubt there may be of their 
thriving in a given locality, there can be no doubt of the thrift of the Terrell grass in 
.any part of the South, however hot it may be, if the soil be made rich. The i>lanter 
living in the flat and somewhat sandy portions of the South who says he cannot get 
a good winter pasture, has certainly never tried the Terrell grass on rich land. 

(Plate 117.) 

Elymus YiRGiNicus. (Wild Eye grass. Smooth Eye grass, Terrell 

grass.) 

A coarse perennial grass, growing on alluvial river banks or in rich 
low grounds. The culm is rather stout, 2 to 3 feet high, leafy ; the lower 
leaves are 10 to 15 inches long, broad and rough. The sheath of the 
*upper leaf usually incloses the stock, and sometimes the base of the 
.flower spike. This spike is erect, dense, and rigid, 2 to 4 or 5 inches long 
and one-half inch thick. The spikelets are two or three together at each 
joint, all alike and fertile, sessile, two to tive flowered, and each with 
a pair of empty glumes. These glumes are very thick and coarse^ 
■Strongly nerved, lanceolate, and bristle-pointed, about 1 inch long. The 
flowering glumes are of firm texture, lance-oblong, five-nerved, hair^^ 
on back, and terminating in a stifl', straight awn, half an inch to nearly 
an inch long. The lowest one in the spikelet having the longest awn, 
the others gradually shorter. The palet is oblong, obtuse, and as long 
.as the flowering glume, excluding the awn. 

This grass frequently forms a considerable portion of native meadow 
lands and makes a coarse hay. It starts growth early in the spring, 
.and thus aflbrds a good pasturage. Professor Killebrew, of Tennessee, 
says it is very valuable and ought to be tried in cultivation. 

Professor Phares, of Mississippi, says : 

This perennial grass is a native of the Southern States. As all farm stock except 
.hogs are fond of it, and it is green through the winter and spring, it has been de- 
stroyed when grazing animals have access to it at all times. It is, however, found 
An many of our States along the banks of wooded streams, of ditches, and in fence- 
corners among briers and thick-ets. It will grow on thin clay, gravelly, or sandy soil, 
but much better'on rich lands, dry or rather moist, and will thrive ten, tweuty, or 
»more years on the same land. 

.(Plate 118.,) 



112 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Elymus striatus. (Smaller Rye grass, Denuett grass). 

This grass has a structure as to the flower-spike similar to the pre- 
ceding, but it is a more slender grass in all its parts, varying from 
smooth to pubescent. The spike is 3 to 4 inches long, cylindrical, and 
inclined to droop. The glumes are more slender than in E. Virginicus, 
with longer awns. The spikelets are usually two-flowered, the empty 
glumes narrow, rigid, and about 1 inch long. The body or dilated part 
of the flowering glume is oblong, about four lines long, and tipped with 
a slender awn an inch or more in length. 

This species grows in rocky woods and on river banks, growing more 
sparsely than the preceding, and it is said by some to furnish a good 
My. 

Professor Phares says of this species : 

This, also, is a perennial and a native of the Southern States. Everything said of 
the preceding, E. Virginicus, applies with equal force to this, except the spikes of this 
are 3 to 7 inches long, and often slightly nodding. Also the spike of this species is 
raised by its long peduncle far above the sheath of the upper leaf, while the spike of 
the other is partly included in the upper sheath. They may be grazed or mown re- 
peatedly daring spring and early summer, and grow rapidly after each mowing. 
Many acres have been planted in the last few years. As hay it is rather hard unless 
cut when young. It should be cut as soon as the blooms appear or earlier. It would 
be preferable to have these grasses for grazing or soiling, and to sow better grasses 
for hay. 

(Plate 119.) 

Elymus condensatus. (Giant Rye grass. Western Rye grass.) 

This is a perennial grass, ranging from San Diego throughout Cali- 
fornia, and into Oregon and Washington Territory, also in the Rocky 
Mountain region of the interior. It is very variable, but always a 
strong, heavy-rooted, coarse grass, from 3 to 5 or even to 12 feet high» 
Mr. Bolander states that it seems to do excellent service by fixing the 
soil on the banks of creeks and rivers. In the larger forms the culms^ 
are half an inch thick. The leaves are smooth, 2 feet long and an inch 
wide, or more, and the panicle 8 to 11 inches long and 1^ inches thick. 
As it usually occurs in arid grounds it is from 3 to 6 feet high, the 
leaves about a foot long and half an inch wide, and the spike-like pan- 
icle 1 to 8 inches. In the large form the branches of the panicle are 
subdivided and 1 or 2 inches long. 

More commonly there are two to five sessile spikelets at each joint of 
the axis, the spikelets about three-flowered. The outer glumes are sub- 
ulate or short, bristle-like. The flowering glumes are mostly coriaceous^ 
five-nerved, rounded on the back, and acute or mucronate pointed. 

There is a variety called Triticoides, which has a more slender, less^ 
crowded spike, the spikelets more distant, not more than two at a joint, 
and frequently single, the culm more slender, and the leaves narrow 
or involute. This variety seems to unite the genus to Triticum. (Plate 
120.) 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 11^ 

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN DESCRIBING GRASSES. 

Abrupt. Terminating suddenly. 

Acuminate. Extended into a tapering point. 

Acute. Sharx3-poiuted. 

Alternate. Situated regularly one above the other on opposite sides. 
Annual. Living but one season. 

Anther. The organ containing tne pollen or flower dust. 

Apex. The top or extreme end of any part. 

Appressed. Pressed together, not spreading. 

Aristate. Having an awn or beard. 

Articulated. Connected by a joint or joints. 

Ascending. Rising obliquely from the ground. 

Awl-shaped. Gradually narrowed to a fine point like an awl. 

Awn. A bristle-like hair proceeding from the glumes. 

Axis. Jhe central stem of a panicle, spike, or spikelet on which the flowers are dis- 
posed. 

Beard. A long slender hair or awn. 
Biennial. Living through two seasons. 
Bifid. Divided into two portions at the apex. 
Bisexual. Having both stamens and pistils. 
Blade. The expanded portion of a leaf. 

Boat-shaped. Folded together in the form of a boat, convex outwardly and concave 

on the inside. 
Branch. A division of the stem or panicle. 
Branchlet. A secondary division of the branch. 
Bristles. Short, stiff hairs. 
Bulbous. Thickened like a bulb. 
Ccespitose. Growing in bunches or tufts. 
Capillary. Hair-like, very slender. 
Cartilaginous. Firm and tough like cartilage. 
Carinate. Keeled, having a prominent ridge in the center. 
Cauline. Belonging to the culm or stem. 
Chaff. The dried glumes and palets of grasses. 

Chartaceous. The texture resembling paper or parchment in thickness. 
Ciliaie. Having the margin or nerves fringed with hairs. 
Compressed. Flattened laterally. 
Contorted. Twisted. 

Convolute. Rolled together inward from the margins. 

Cornaceous. Of a horn-like consistence. 

Coriaceous. Of a leathery consistence. 

Culm. The stalk or stem of grasses. 

Cuspidate. Ending in a sharp, stiff point. 

Decumbent. Reclining on the ground, but rising at the top. 

Dichotomous, Branching in twos, forking by pairs. 

Digitate. Dividing from a common point. 

Dioecious. Having the stamens and pistils on separate plants, the stamiuate dow- 
ers on one and pistilate flowers on another. 
Diverging. Widely spreading. 
Dorsal. Belonging to or growing from the back. 
Emarginate. Having a notch at the end. 
Entire. Without notches or divisions. 
Equal. Alike in length. 

Exserted. Protruded, extended beyond, standing out. 
2218 GR 8 



114 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Fertile. Having perfect pistils, producing fruit. 
Fibrous. Having tliread-like divisions. 
Filament. The stalk or supj)ort of the anther. 
Filiform. Thread-like. 
Flexuous. Bending freely. 

Floret. The flowers of grasses are sometimes called florets. 
Foliaceous. Resembling a leaf. 

Fusiform. Spindle-shaped, largest in the middle and tapering to both ends. 

Geniculate. Bent abruptly at an angle, like a knee. 

-Genus. A group of species having a general agreement in structure. 

Glabrous. Smooth, without hairs or roughness. 

Glaucous. Having a light bluish-green color. 

Glomerate. Clustered in small roundish heads. 

Glumes. The chaflf-like leaves forming a part of the flowers. 

Herbaceous. Herb-like, not woody. 

Jlirsute. Pubescent, with rather stiff and coarse hairs. 
Hyaline. Thin and transparent. 

Indigenous. Growing naturally, not brought from some other country. ' 

Inferior. Lower in i)osition. 

Inserted. Growing out of, or upon another. 

Internode. The space between two nodes or joints. 

Involute. Rolled together inwards. 

Imbricate. Closely overlapping each other, as frequently the flowers of a sx)ikelet. 

Joints. Thickenings in the stem where the leaves originate ; separable parts of an 
axis ; point of issue of the Ijranches of a panicle. 

Keel. An elevated longitudinal ridge, in the middle of a leaf, glume, or palet ; re- 
sembling the keel of a boat. 

Xamina. The free or expanded portion of a leaf, as distinguished from the petiole 
or the sheath ; the blade of a leaf. 

Lanceolate. Tapering gradually to the apex, like a lancet. 

Lateral. At or from the side. 

Ligule. A tongue-like appendage at the upper part of the sheath of^ leaf. 

Xine. The twelfth part of an inch. 

Linear. Long and narrow, with parallel sides. 

Lobe. Some division of a glume. 

Male flower. A flower that has stamens, but without pistil. 
Membranaceous. Thin like a membrane, generally somewhat translucent. 
Monoecious. With stamens and pistils. 

Midrib. The central and principal nerve of a leaf or glume. 
Mucronate. Abruptly tipped with a short awn or bristle. 
-Nerves. The ribs or veins of a leaf, or leaf-like organ. 
Neutral. Having neither stamens nor pistils. 
Nodes. Knots or thickened portions in the culms. 
Oblong. Longer than wide, with nearly parallel sides 
Obovate. Egg-shaped, with the wider end uppermost. 
Obtuse. Blunt or rounded at the apex. 
Oval. Broadly elliptical, approaching the round form. 
Ovary. That part of the pistil which contains the seed. 
Ovate. Egg-shaped. 

J*alet or palea . The inner scale or chafi" of the proper flower, placed nearly opposite 

and a little higher on the axis than the flowering glume. 
Fanicle. A branched and subdivided stem bearing the flowers. 
Pedicel. A small branchlet supporting a spikelet. 
Feduncle. The main stem or stalk of a flower spike. 
Perennial. Living more than two years, or indefinitely. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 115 



Perfect. Having both stamens and pistils. 
Petiole. The stem of a leaf. 

Pititil. The central or female organ of a fertile flower. 
Pistillate. Having only pistils without stamens. 
Plumose. Feather-like. 

Pollen. The powder contained in the anthers. 

Pubescent. Clothed with short and soft hairs. 

Eadical leaves. Those growing from the base of the culm. * 

Bevolute. Rolling backwards or outwards. - 

EhacMs. The axis or stem on which the flowers of a spikelet are arranged ; also the 

common axis of a close spike or of a panicle. 
Ehizoma or rootsiock. A horizontal underground stem. 
Bibs. Prominent nerves of the leaves or glumes. 
Bugose. Wrinkled or furrowed. 
Scahrous. Rough, with small points or hairs. 
Scarious. Dry and thin, and generally transparent. 
Sericeous. Covered with soft, silky hairs. 

Serrate. Having teeth on the margin, pointed toward the apex. 

Serrulate. Finely-toothed. 

Sessile. Without a foot stalk or pedicel. 

Setaceous. Like a bristle. 

Sheath. That part of the leaf which embraces the culm or stalk. 

Spike. A collection of sessile or nearly sessile flowers on a close, narrow axis. 

Spikelet. A flower or cluster of flowers having one pair of outer glumes. 

Stamen. The male organs of a flower, including the anther and filament. 

Staminate. Having only stamens. 

Sterile. Imperfect flowers not producing seed. 

Strict. Erect and close. 

Stoloniferous. Sending off oftshoots or runners from the base. 
Strigose. Having spreading, bristly hairs. 
Subulate. Stiff and linear, shaped like an awl. 
Succulent. Fleshy and juicy. 

Style. That portion of the pistil bearing stigmas or a stigmatic surface ; in grasses 

often branching. 
Truncate. Abruptly cut off" at the apex. 
Unequal. Not of equal length. 
Verticillate. Arranged in a whorl or whorls. 
Villous. Velvety, clothed thickly with long, soft hairs. 

Whorl. A number of leaves or branches arranged around a stem on the same plane. 
Wooly. Clothed with long and matted hairs. 



THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 

OF 

AMERICAN GRASSES 

FROM 

INVESTIGATIONS IN THE LABORATORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
AGRICULTURE, 1878-1882. 

BY 

CLIFFORD RICHARDSON, 

ASSISTAl^T CHEMIST. 



117 



THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF AMERICAN GRASSES. 



In submitting grasses to chemical analysis, with a view of judging of 
their nutritive value, it is usual to determine the amount present of 
water, ash, fat or oil, fiber and nitrogen. From the latter the amount of 
albuminoids to which it is equivalent is readily calculated by multiply- 
ing by a factor which represents the per cent, of nitrogen present in the 
average albuminoid, and by subtracting the sum of all these constit- 
uents from one hundred, the percentage of undetermined matter is ob- 
tained, and as it of course contains no nitrogen, and consists of the ex- 
tractive principles of the plant, it is described as Nitrogen free extract." 
It includes all the carbo-hydrates, such as sugar, starch, and gum, to- 
gether with certain other allied substances, with which we are less in- 
timately acquainted, but which have a certain nutritive value. 

Although it has been customary to state as albuminoids the equivalent 
of the nitrogen found, this is rarely entirely correct, as a portion is gener- 
ally present in a less highly elaborated form of a smaller nutritive value. 
This portion is described as non-albuminoid nitrogen, and in analyses 
of the present day the amount is always given as an additional source 
of information, although our knowledge of its exact value to the animal 
is rather uncertain. 

The ultimate composition of the ash is also frequently determined, and 
examples of the results obtained are of interest, as showing the mineral 
matter that grasses withdraw from the soil. 

Without entering into a discussion of the nutritive value of the several 
constituents of the grasses, for which reference can be made to Armsby's 
Manual of Cattle Feeding, it is sufficient to say that during the past 
few years the greater portion of the species described by Dr. Vasey in 
the preceding portion of this bulletin have been analyzed, and the results 
collected and rearranged, with some corrections, from the annual reports 
of the Department are presented in the following pages. 

The first series consists of analyses made with specimens collected at 
or near the time of blooming. Their origin is as follows: 

No. of anal. 

1. Paspalum laeve (Water grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 1878. 
2., Paspalum laeve (Water grass). From the Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, 
Chester County, Pennsylvania. 1880, August 23-29. 

3. Paspalum ovatum. From S. L. Goodale, Saco, Me. 1880. 

4. Paspalum praecox. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

5. Digitaria fiUforme. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1878. 

119 



120 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Ifo. of anal. 

6. Dig'itaria sanguinale (Crab grass). From Charles Mobr, Mobile. Ala. 1878. 

7. Digitarria sanguinale (Crab grass). From tlie grounds of the Department. June 

23, 1880. 

8. Digitaria sanguinale (Crab grass). From the Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. August 11, 1880. 

9. Panicumjumentoi'im. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1878. 

10. Panicum Texanum (Texas millet). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 1879. 

11. Panicum proliferum (Large Crab grass). ''Very ripe and rank." From Charles 

Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

12. Panicum agrostoides (Marsh panic). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 

1879. 

13. Panicum anceps. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

14. Panicum anceps. From the Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, Chester 

County, Pennsylvania. July 31, 1880. 
16. Panicum crus-galU (Barn-yard grass). From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

16. Panicum crus-galli (Barn-yard grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 

17. Panicum crus-galli (Cock's foot). From the Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. August 25, 1880. 

18. Panicum virgatum (Panic grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 1879. 

Low growth. 

19. Panicum virgatum (Tall panic or switch grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Aus- 

tin, Tex. 1878. 

20. Panicum virgatum (Tall panic or switch grass). From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 

1878. 

21. Panicum virgatum (Tall panic or switch grass). From W. S. Robertson, Mus- 

cogee, Ind. T. 1879. Tall growth. 

22. Panicum diraricatum. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

23. Panicum gillum. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

24. Panicum obtusum. From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 1878. 

25. Panicum capillare (Witch grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 

1879. 

26. Panicum dichotomum. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

27. Setaria Italica. From the Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, Chester County 

Pennsylvania. July 24, 1880. 

28. Setaria glauca (Foxtail). From the grounds of the Department. July 24, 1880. 

29. Setaria glauca (Foxtail). From the Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, Ches- 

ter County, Pennsylvania. August 11, 1880. 

30. Setaria setosa (Bristle grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 1878. 

31. Tripsacum dactyloides (Gama grass). From D. L. Phares, Woodville, Miss. 1878. 

32. Tripsacum dactyloides (Gama grass). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, 

Chester County, Pennsylvania. 1880. 

33. Spartina cynosuroides (Whip grass). From A. C. Lathrop, Glenwood, Pope County^ 

Minnesota. 1879. 

34. Spartina cynosuroides (Whip grass). From J. D. Waldo, Quincy, 111. 1879. 

35. Spartina cynosuroides (Wh.\\) grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 

1879. 

36. Andropogon Virginicus (Brown sedge. Sedge grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, 

Austin, Tex. 1878. 

37. Andropogon scoparius. From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. Before bloom. 

38. Andropogon scoparius (Broom grass). From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1878. 

39. Andropogon scoparius. From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, lud. T. 1879. 

40. Andropogon macrourus (Broom grass). From Charles Mobr, Mobile, Ala. 

41. Androp>ogon furcatus {Blue ^oint grass). From A. C. Lathrop, Glenwood, Pope 

County, Minnesota. 1879. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 121 



No. of anal. 

42. Andropogon furcatus (Blue joint). From D. H. Wheeler, Nebraska. 1879. 

43. Andropogon furcatus {'Q\\\&]o\\rt). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 1879. 

44. Andropogon furcaius (Blue joint grass). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. September 2, 1880. 

45. Andropogon argenteus (Silver Beard grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee 

Ind. T. 1880. 

46. Sorghum halapense (Johnson grass.) From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1878. 

47. Sorghum nutans. From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 1879. 

48. Sorghum nutans (Wood grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 1878. 

49. Phalaris intermedia, YSiT. an(/?ts/a (American Canary grass). From South Carolina^ 

1879. 

50. Anthoxanthum odoratum, (Sweet Vernal grass). From James 0. Adams, Manchester, 

N. H. 1879. 

51. Anthoxanthum odoratum (^weet Yernal grass). From the Eastern Experimental 

Farm, West Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. May 11-24, 1880. 

52. Anthoxanthum odoratum (Sweet Vernal grass). From the grounds of the Depart- 

ment. May, 1 1880. 

53. £"ie/-oc/<7oa ftoreaZts (Vanilla grass). From E. Hall, Athens, 111. 1878. 

54. Alopecurus pratensis (Meadow foxtail). From the grounds of the Department. 

May 1, 1880. 

55. Aristida perpurascens {Vwx^lfi Beard grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, 

Ind. T. 

56. Milium effusum. From C. G. Pringle, Hazen's Notch, Vt. 1880. 

57. MuMenhergia diffusa (Drop-seed grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 

1878. 

58. ikr«(/(7e»&e?'<7ia dr^wsa (Drop-seed grass). From Eastern Experimental Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. Aug. 25, 1880. 

59. MuhJenhergia Mexicana. From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, Chester 

County, Pennsylvania. Aug. 22, 1880. 

60. Muhlenhergia glomerata (^atin grass). From A. C. Lathrop, Glenwood, Pope County, 

Minnesota. 1879. 

61. Muhlenbergia sp ? (Knot grass). From James O. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 1879. 
1879. 

62. Phleum p>ratense {Timothj, Herd grass). From the grounds of the Department. 

June 18, 1880. 

63. PhJeum pratense (Timothy). From the grounds of the Department. Wayside 

growth. June 4, 1880. 

64. PhJeum pratense (Timothy). From the grounds of the Department. June 26, 

1882. First year's growth from seed. 

65. Phleum pratense {Timoth.} ). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, Chester 

County, Pennsylvania. June 20, 1880. 

66. Phleum pratense (Timothy, Herd grass). From J. W. Sanborn, Hanover, N. H. 

1S81. 

67. Phleum pratense (Timothy). From W. H. Hackstaflf, La Fayette, Ind. 1882. 

68. Phleum pratense (Timothy). From J. M. Robinson, Queen Anne County, Mary- 

land. July 4, 1882. Unmanured for years. 
• 69. Sporoholus Indicus (Sweet grass). From D. L. Phares, WoodviUe, Miss. 1878. 

70. Agrostis vulgaris (Red Top, Herd grass). From the grounds of the Department. 

June 23, 1880. 

71. Agrostis vulgaris (Red Top). From the grounds of the Department. Wayside 

growth. June 18, 1880. 

72. Agrostis vulgaris (Herd grass;. From the Eastern Experimental Farm, West Grove 

Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

73. Agrostis vulgaris (Red Top). From J. J. Rosa, Milford, Del. 



122 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



No. of anal. ,^ 

74. Agrostis exarata (Native Red Top). From Tlieo. Louis, Louisville, Wis. 1878. 

75. Cinna arundinaeea (Reed grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 

76. iToZcMS Zana^MS (Velvet grass). From the grounds of the Department. May 25, 

1880. 

77. Jvena striata (Mountain Oat grass). From Cyrus G. Pringle, Charlotte, Yt. 1879. 

78. Arrhenatherum avenaceum (Oat grass). From the grounds of the DepurimeDt. 

May 25, 1880. 

79. Arrhenatherum avenaceum (Oat grass). From Dr. W. C. Benbow, Greensboro', N. 

C. Late bloom. May 12, 1880. 

80. Danthonia spicaia (Wild. Oat grass). From James O. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 

1879. 

81. Danthonia compressa (Wild Oat grass). From Cyrus G. Pringle, Charlotte, Vt. 

1874. 

82. Cynodon daotylon (Bermuda grass). From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1878. 

83. Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass). From D. L. Phares, Woodville, Miss. 1878. 

84. Bouteloiia oligostachya (Gamme grass). From A. C. Lathrop, Glenwood, Pope 

County, Minnesota. 1879. 

85. Eleusine Indica (Yard grass, Crow-foot grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin,^ 

Tex. 

86. Eleusine Indica (Yard grass, tfec). From Dr. W. A. Creswell, Americus, Ga. 1878. 

87. Eleusine Indica (Yard grass, &c.). From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1878. 

88. Leptochloa mucronaia (Feather grass). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 

1878. 

89. Trio<Ziaj»Mr^ure(i (Sand grass). From W. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 1879. 

90. Triodia seslerioides (Tall Red Top). From Prof. S. B. Buckley, Austin, Tex. 1878. 

91. Uniola latifoUa (Fescue grass). From Charles Mohr, Mobile, Ala. 1879. 

92. TJniola latifolia (Fescue grass). From M. S. Robertson, Muscogee, Ind. T. 1879. 

93. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From James 0. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 

1879. 

94. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From the grounds of the Department, May 

13, 1880. First growth. 

95. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From the grounds of the Department, June 

18, 1880. Later growth. 

96. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. 1880. 

97. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From W. H. Cheek, Warren County, North 

Carolina. Early bloom. May 16, 1880. 

98. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From Dr. W. C. Benbow, Greensboro', N. C. 

1880. Early bloom, May 12. 

99. Dactylis glomerata (Orchard grass). From S. L. Goodale, Saco, Me. 1880. 

100. Poa pratensis (Blue grass, June grass). From Theo. Louis, Louisville, Wis. 

1878. . 

101. Poa pratensis (Blue grass, &c.). From James O. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 

1879. 

102. Poa pratensis {Bine grass, &c.). From the grounds of the Department. May 28^ 

1880. Growth from best soil. 

103. Poa pratensis {Bine grsiss, &G.). From the grounds of the Department. May 8,, 

1880. Growth from poorer soil. 

104. Poa 2}ratensis {Blue gTSiSS, &G.). From the grounds of the Department. May 19,^ 

1880. Growth by wayside. 

105. Poa pratensis (Blue grass, &c.). From J. D. Waldo, Quincy, 111. May 17, 1880. 

106. Poa pratensis (Blue grass, &c.). From W. B. Cheek, Warren County, North Car- 

olina. 1880. Before bloom. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 123 



I<J"o. of anal. 

107. Poa praiensis (Blue grass, &c.). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, 

Chester County, Pennsylvania. 1880. 

108. Foa compressa (Englisli Blue grass, Wire grass). From James O. Adams, Man- 

cliester, N. H. 1879. 

109. Foa compressa (English Blue grass). From the grounds of the Department. 

June 17, 1880. 

110. Foa compressa (English Blue grass). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. June 10, 1880. 

111. Poa compressa (English Blue grass). From J. J. Rosa, Milford, Del. June 6, 

1880. 

112. Poa seroHym (Fowl-meadow grass, False red top). From Theo. Louis, Louisville, 

Wis. 1878. 

113. Foa arachnifera. From Ellis County, Texas. 1882. 

114. Poa alsodes. From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, Chester County, Penn- 

sylvania. June 2, 1880. 

115. Glyceria aquatica (Reed Meadow grass). From Cyrus G. Pringle, Charlotte, Yt. 

1879. 

116. Glyceria nervata (Fowl Meadow grass). From Cyrus G. Pringle, Charlotte, Vt. 

1879. 

117. Glyceria nervala (Fowl Meadow grass). From James O. Adams, Manchester, 

N. H. 1879. 

118. Glyceria nervata (Fowl Meadow grass). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. June 2, 1880. 

119. Festuca orina (Sheep's Fescue). From James O. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 1879. 

120. Festuca orina (Sheep's Fescue). From the grounds of the Department. May 21, 

1880. 

121. Festuca elatior (Meadow Fescue). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, 

Chester County, Pennsylvania. June 2, 1880. 

122. Festuca praiensis (Meadow Fescue). From James O. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 

1879. 

123. Festuca praiensis (Field Fescue). From the grounds of the Department. June 

1,1880. After bloom. 

124. Bromus secalinus (Cheat or Chess). From James 0. Adams, Manchester, N. H. 

1879. 

125. Bromus unioloides (Schrsider^ 8 frrass). From the grounds of the Department. 1879. 

126. 5?'owmsMwio?oi<?cs(Schrader's grass). From the grounds of the Department. May 

13, 1880. 

127. Bromus erectus (Chess). From the grounds of the Department. May 19, 1880, 

128. Bromus carinatus (California Brown grass). From E. Hall, Athens, 111. 1878. 

129. Lolium perenne (Common Darnel, Ray,pr Ryegrass). From the grounds of the 

Department. June 1, 1880. 

130. Lolium perenne (Rye grass, &c.). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West Grove, 

Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

131. Lolium Italicum (Italian Rye grass). From the grounds of the Department. 

May 26, 1882. 

132. Agropyrum repens (Couch, Quitch, or Quick grass). From James 0. Adams, Man- 

chester, N. H. 1879. 

133. Agropyrum repens (Couch grass, &c.). From Eastern Experiment Farm, West 

Grove, Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

134. Agropyrum reoeus (Couch grass). From S. L. Goodale, Saco, Me. 1880. 

135. Agropyrum repens (Couch grass, &c.). From the grounds of the Department. 

June 23, 1880. Early bloom. 

136. Elymus canadensis (Wild Rye grass). From D. H. Wheeler, Nebraska. 1879. 



124 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The specimens, it will be seen, are from all parts of the country and 
grown under every condition of soil and environment. Those collected 
by Dr. Peter Collier in 1878 and 1879 were mostly from the poorer soils 
and were intended to represent the wild grasses of the country. Those 
collected in subsequent years by myself were chiefly cultivated varie- 
ties. The development in nearly every case was full bloom or shortly 
after, that being the period at which the grasses as a whole seem to be 
cut for hay. 

The analyses have been calculated for dry substance" and also for 
fresh grass" where the amount of water in the fresh grass had been 
determined, otherwise for the average amount of water in hay as given 
by Wolff. This figure is probably too high for the United States owing 
to our drier climate, but, in the absence of exact data for the selection 
of a more accurate one, it has been provisionally accepted. It is very 
easily to calculate from the composition of the dry substance what effect 
the presence of any percentage of water would have on the absolute 
amount of any constituent present in a given weight of grass. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 125 



•sptonimnqiY 



r£ i.-- c-i X d »: -7= L.-- -^r-l^^^c^ ri t~: o -i" u-i u-: x :^i i>: t>: t>: «c 06 in 



•xaq^ 9PTIJ3 



2 g52?i?gHSS5g:^S:?§g^???^2Sg5?iS5^;2§^:^SS 



i-i ^ H ^ ^ - r-i 71 « ^ r-: M • 5^ ^ s-i c-i i^i ?q 



-3 s;?,^E?xSxt-3S5t:;-€EHg^^^?,^SS?:=s?552 = *sg23 



•pTomranqiB-aon sb 



•ptomranqn^-uox 



^ ^ • • --if^^^ • -^i^ • • • ^ r-: rH r-: ^ r-; r-; r-; -; 



00 X --i iT. ci ^" X ^ u~: xr: d « c^^l -t ^ ci i;\t^ <D vii ci si rc x aj ^ 



•jeqg apnjo 



3? gS^i?j£:^^:?Sgt^ys^^g^SK^^^g^gsg^SiS 



t2 J£^i^g^SE;^SiS6SSS5«-3g§SSS£g^:g5^K^^i 

ri ri ^ ^ n rA c6 ifi ^ ^ ci n ^ ^ s^i t*: m m f i ^ n in 



L- X «; £i z"^^-^ '-'i '-^ 2 ^ '-'t ^" ;2; =^ 2 5 ^ '=^' =^ 



•;q.oi8H 



I 



ilpii 



i 



III ill 



iii 



i 



Mm 



tl 



litf'ii'iM 



•SISilBQ^ JO -OX 



126 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



•spiouiTimqjY 



C^' U-i M 50 «■ CO O CO C<i M O CO ^ M 



CM- rH- ^ jvi ?i s^- ^ c^i ffi s^i (Ti CO cvJ " CO ^' (N crf r-i cq (N CO rn" r- ^ (rj CO ^ s^i 



•qSY 



-* 00 -o r: CO «d cc ~ cd ti: i>: s; t-" ic i-: cc u- : i-^ t-: ^ ro cj ^ ^^^ c^i ?o o --o 



■ptomTunqxB-uoa 



•pToairanqji3-aox 



• -^c^ • • ■ • • •g.-i^^^^^ -(rq-;^- • eo" (m" rH- • 'r-:^" 



•eptoaiiiinqi;Y 



•J9qg: 8pn.io 



^ CO »• ^ 00 w CO ^ CO ;^ CO CO 2 «j o> 2 ^ 



155 



•aOBJ'^Xa 99JJ U9gOJ5.T^ 



fCr^r^^CONCOWCOCicOMOir-l^COCNCO-tCOCNC^-COcdlC 



■qsY 



irf t>: o Th CO o ^ CO CO 00 u-; » oc o i-* ci w « oi » r<; jri CO «d t-: ^- 1>: n-' t>: 



•;q§i9H 



f 



^11 



II 



•ox; Ti9raio9(is 




THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 127 



:^^!^ioLO^u^^rl;c^r^co^^t>:o6ocol>:odo^•^c^ 

oooooooooooooooooooooooogooooooooooooooo 



^do^o^c^occcci^ - ^3«:cog j;H ^cc;oo^occ;gjodddoc^ ^ ^ o ;c ^ ^ ^ ^ 3 5 ^ ^ ^ 



CO CO CO » ^ t~: 00 Tj; .-c cr; d t>: a 00 oi uo 



00 . ■ • 

; ; i 


;^ 1-^ ; ; 








; i : 








: ■ 


... 




Miss.... 
D.C .... 

Tex 

Ga 

Ala 






::::;:; 


Wo : 




: : : 

: i : 
\^>> 




June 23 1 
June 18 
July 1 
1882. 


iliHN 




: ; : : : iSS ; 


May 21 
Ma'y 8 
May 19 
May 17 
June 16 
May 26 


liiil 


i 

III 

.1-5 . 






issiisississssasssssa 



128 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 





•spTOuiniiiq-[Y 


1 

11.80 
9. 21 
9. 74 

6. 61 
11.67 

2. 60 
3.19 

8. 50 

2. 81 

7. 60 

3. 18 

9. 84 
7. 22 

10. 83 
3. 67 
3. 70 


hay. 


! 




o 






© 

% 


•!^0'bj:jx9 98JJ naSoj!^!^ 




m 

s 
Si 






OS 


•qSY 












•piouiuinq^B-aoa sb 
uaSoj^iu JO -^jaao j9j 






■ pioniinnq]['B-no^ 






•u9§oj;jia I'B^^ox 




stance. 


•epiouiniiiqiY 




Dry sub 


•J9q^ 9PT1J0 




•:^9Ba:jX9j99JJ U9gOJ}T^ 








^" M .-0 ^ .-0 « d S<i (N N- CO « Crl M M 




•qsy 






; :g : S ;g : : : : : 



S2 




THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 12^ 



The great variation in composition of grasses becomes apparent on 
examining the one hundred and thirty-six analyses and by selecting 
the highest and lowest determinations the following table of extremes 
has been prepared : 

Limits of composition of grasses. 



Dry substance. 



Highest. 


Lowest. 


19. 24 


3. 57 


5. 77 


1. 48 


66. 01 


34. 01 


37. 72 


17. 68 


23. 13 


2. 80 


3. 70 


.45 


1.64 


.00 


60.7 


.00 


76. 50 


60. 00 



Ash 

Fat 

Nitrogen free extract 

Cnide fiber 

Albuminoids 

Xitrogen 

Xon-albuminoid nitrogen 

Per cent, of nitrogen as non-albuminoid 
Water in fresh grass 



The highest ash is undoubtedly owing to the presence of adherent 
soil, and the lowest carbo-hydrates are dependent relatively on the same 
cause. The wide variations in fiber and albuminoids must be regarded, 
however, as being entirely due to physiological causes, which are 
difficult to explain. Digitaria sangulnale, for instance, which in one 
specimen contains the extreme amount of albuminoids and a small 
amount of fiber has in another only half as much albumen and one and 
three-quarter times as much fiber. We learn, then, that species are not 
in themselves at all fixed in their composition, there being as large vari- 
ations among specimens of the same as between specimens of different 
species. Examples may be found in several portions of the preceding 
tables, and, for illustration, several analyses of Fhelum pratense and of 
Bactylis glomerata from widely separated localities are given in the fol- 
lowing tables : 

Analyses of Phleuni pratense (timothi/) from various localities. 
FULL BLOOM. 



















1^ 
















■© . 


« c ^ 


Locality. 






act. 


© 


05 


1 
o 


•S a 


b. of 
on as 
inoid 






p 








%^ 


» S s 








1 














<\ 








< 




•A 




Department garden, 1881 


7. 16 


4. 47 


50. 03 


27. 35 


10. 99 


L 75 


.51 


29.1 


Department garden, 1880 


5. 66 


3. 58 


58. 93 


21. 93 


9. 90 


1. 58 


.38 


24.0 




4. 93 


4. 22 


52. 83 


30. 43 


7. 69 


1. 23 


.15 


12. 2 


!N"ew Hampshire 


4. 57 


4. 20 


57. 16 


28. 28 


5. 79 


.93 


. 10 


lois 


Indiana 


7. 05 


2. 18 


52. 99 


32. 26 


5. 52 


. 88 


.00 


.0 



2218 GR— 9 



130 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



Analyses of Bactylis glomerata (orchard grass) from various localities. 
FULL BLOOM. 



























o 








'3 . 


43 a 








c 
p 












Locality. 






^ o 

a cs 




O 


p 


















'a 




y = 








c 






1 


a 
s 


u ^ a 
5 a a 




<1 










H 






Jforth Carolina 


7. 42 


3. 56 


56. 03 


23. 08 


9. 91 


L 58 


.30 


19.0 




S. 07 


3. 24 


53. 76 


25. 40 


9. 53 


].53 


.16 


10. 5 


Maine 


8. 02 


3. 39 


54. 80 


26. 05 


8. 74 


]. 40 


.36 


25.7 


District of Columbia 


6. 00 


3. 62 


57. 34 


24. 42 


8. 62 


L 38 


.42 


30.4 




6.33 , 


2. 66 


54. 99 


27, 51 


8. 56 


1.37 


.51 


37.2 


• 


8.44 


3.49 


54. 75 


24. 91 


8.41 , 

1 


1. 35 


.42 


30.9 


ATESAGE. 


Five Localities. 


7. 38 


3.33 


55. 17 


25. 19 


8. 91 


L43 


.36 


2 5.2 



The average compositiou of American grasses as derived from the 
preceding analyses of grasses in bloom and averages for different sec- 
tions of the country, has been calculated. The results i^resented in 
the following table, with Wolff's averages for German grasses, are of 
interest : 

Average composition of grasses. 



American : 

United States I 135 

North, of Potomac 70 

South : 27 

Middle West 8 

West of Mississippi 30 

German (Wolii): 

Fair ; 

Good j 

Very good 



7. 97 

7. 64 

8. 80 
7. 12 
8, 23 

6. 30 

7. 23 
8.24 



3. 14 
3.44 
2.74 
2. 96 
2. 86 

2. 34 

2. 92 

3. 29 



53. 97 
55.01 
52. 55 

54. 58 
52.67 

46. 53 

47. 84 

48. 93 



25. 71 
23. 70 

26. 68 
25. 39 

29. 60 

34. 09 

30. 69 
25. 77 



9. 21 
10. 21 
9. 23 
9. 95 
6.64 

10. 74 
11.32 
13. 77 



L47 
L 63 
1.47 
1.60 
1. 06 



§ a 



30. 6 
19.6 
38.1 
25.6 
38.7 



L 72 
1.81 
2. 20 



The different sections furnish very different qualities of grasses, and 
for the reason that those from the North were almost entirely from cul- 
tivated soil, while those from the other sections were many or most of 
them wild species from old sod. The improvement brought about by 
cultivation is marked and the difference between a ton of wild Western 
and Eastern ^cultivated hay is apparent. 

In comparison with German grasses our best do not equal in amount 
of albuminoids those classed by Wolff' as fair, but they are far superior 
in having a much smaller percentage of fiber and consequently a larger 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 131 



amount of digestible carbo-hydrates. In the grasses of both countries 
the fiber increases with, regularity as tbe nitrogenous constitutents 
decrease, and of the latter the non-albuminoid portion is relatively 
greatly the poorer the quality of the grass. 

CHANGES IN COMPOSITION DURING GROWTH. 

In addition to the single analysis previously tabulated, analyses 
have been made of series illustrating the changes in composition of 
several species from the appearance of the blade to the maturity of the 
seed. 

The grasses examined comprise: 

1. Jgrostis vulgaris. (Red top.) 
A series from richer soil. 
A series from poorer soil. 
11. Plileum praiense. (Timothy.) 
A series from richer soil. 

t 

A series from poorer soil. 

A series of first year's growth from seed sown in garden soil. 
A series from La Fayette, Ind. 

A series from Hanover, N. H., the two latter from rather poor soil. 

III. Dactylis, glomerata. (Orchard grass.) 

A series from the first growth. 
A series from later growth. 

IV. Alopecunts 2>ratensis. (Meadow fox-tail.) 

A series from good sod. 
Y. Poa pralensis. (Blue grass, Meadow grass. ) 

A series from good soil. 

A series from poorer soil. 

A series from the wayside. 

A series from Quincy, 111. 
YI. Poa compressa. (Wire grass.) 

A series from poor soil. 
TIL Bromus unioJoides. (Schra-der's grass.) 

A series from rich garden soil. 
Tin. Bromus erectits. (Broom grass.) 

A series from poor soil. 

IX. Holcus lavatus. (Satin grass.) 

A series from poor soil. 

X. Arrhenatherum avenaceum . 

A series from medium soil. 

XI. Stfaria glauca. 

A series from medium soil. 

XII. Anthoxanthvm odorafum. (Sweet vernal grass.) 

A series from medium soil. 

XIII. FesUica ovina. (Sheep's fescue.) 

A series from poor soil, growing in bunches. 
XIT. Lolium IlaJicum. (Italian Rye grass.) 
A series from low moist soil. 

A series of first year's growth from the seed in garden soil. - 
XT. LoU 11711 perenne. (Rye grass darnel.) 
A series from medium soil. 



132 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

With a few exceptions the specimens were personally collected in the 
grounds of the Department, and are to be so understood when nothing' 
else is said in their description. They all grew in the summer of 1880 
except the few series illustrative of the first year's growth of certain 
species. The character of the soils has been designated as rich or gar- 
den soil, good soil, poorer soil, and wayside soil. The first is that of the 
experimental garden of the Department, and is above the average rich- 
ness of cultivated soils ; the second is that of the lawns about the De- 
partment building, the third, a light gravelly soil, occurring in a portion 
of the grounds, and the last the gutters and paths. 

The specimens were cut close to the roots, weighed and dried rapidly 
in a current of air at 60^ C. The methods of analysis were such as- 
have been described in previous reports. 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 133 



■spTOUTtnnqxv 


^ ^- M ^- n! re- « 


3.12 
4.10 


CO M r^" r-: « i^i 


22 

CON 


3. 03 
3. 65 

o. lit 

3. 37 


•jaq^ aptijo 




6. 52 
8. 41 


r,. 83 

5.91 
7. 16 
7. 97 
7. 19 
5. 08 


8. 61 
6. 42 


5. 14 
9. 09 
12. 26 
11. 14 




17. 35 
17.27 
16. 29 
21. 94 
28. 03 
28. 56 
26. 37 


18. 26 
24. 10 


15. 92 

16. 09 
17.61 
20. 08 
19. 33 
11. 34 


21.04 
17. 16 


10.12 
16. 64 
22. 46 
22.-79 




^ rA rA rA iri ^ 


1. 23 
2.18 


1.34 
.96 
1. 18 
1. 35 
1. 17 
.76 


1. 45 
.84 


1.31 
1.49 
2. 03 
1.53 


■ 

•qsY 


ffi C^i (Ti Cfl CO W 


2. 67 
2. 41 


t^rAcocirAci 


2. 40 
1.58 


1.84 
2. 38 
2. 83 
2. 31 






§s 


70.7 
71.9 
67.5 
64.9 
67.2 
77.8 


63.4 
71.9 


78. 56 
66. 75 
56. 63 
58. 86 


•piouininq['B-aon 






35.0 
29.5 
21.8 
18.4 
24.0 
26.4 


22.0 
30.3 


17.3 
29. 1 
17.9 
11.3 


-OJ!|ta pTouturaqre-nox: 






^ 




g?S^2 




cq c4 -; ^ 


1.57 
1.59 


Ci r^. ^ ^ rJ ^ 


1.36 
1.19 


2. 26 
1. 75 
1.40 
1.27 


•spionioinqxY 


13. 19 
13. 61 
12. 73 
11.02 
10.44 
9.47 
8.89 


9.81 
9. 95 


12. 54 
11. 90 
10. 33 
10. 20 
9. 90 
12. 10 


8. 48 
7. 46 


14. 15 
10. 99 
8. 74 
8.18 


•jaqg apnjo 


20. 97 

20. 87 

21. 64 

22. 02 

19. 43 

20. 66 
21.75 


20. 49 
20,44 


19.91 
21.03 
22. 03 
022. 70 
21. 93 
22: 90 


23. 53 
22. 84 




- 


53. 88 
54. 13 
51. 46 
56. 82 

60. 02 
58. 88 

61. 32 


57. 41 

58. 49 


54. 31 
57. 26 
54.19 

57. 21 

58. 93 
51.07 


57. 48 
61. 08 


47. 22 

50. 03 

51. 79 
55. 39 


"VBK 


« ^ ci fo ^ (N 


3. 88 
5. 30 


Ti! 05 CO eo eo CO 


3. 95 
2. 98 


6. 10 
4. 47 
4. 69 
3. 72 


•qsY 


CO !>: o o o 


8. 41 
5. 84 




6. 56 
5. 64 


8. 58 
7. 16 
6. 52 
5. 63 


•8J9:^9aii'},u80 HI l-qSpH 














June 1 
June 1 
June 19 
June 23 
July 1 
July 1 
July 9 

June 16 
June 18 


mm it 

t-i i-r »-^ ^ 


June 19 
June 26 
July 3 
duly 10 




134 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



•spiomranqxY 



C- CO <o I 
OC 05 >-H CO ■ 



CO Tj< ITS 00 O C5 



C5 i-( CC lO I 



T-^ i-( ^ -yq 



O CO CO in 



s: CO i-i < 



■ o o o 

i rH 



•qey 



cq (M (M 



o o o o o 

O O IC CO o 



X CO CO lO 
00 05 l> CO 



Oi IM CO 

as « 



•pionfuinqtB-uou 



CO O CO o 



M 00 0> 



CO CO CO CO 



Ifl C5 00 ■* 
i-[ CO r-llft 



in in 00 05 00 

CQ 00 00 t- 



in M I 
in in S5 00 ( 



•epioutnmqxY 



t O (N t- -* 
05 00 in m 00 

o r> in in 



s; in in in 



in o C5 X ca 00 c~ 



IM CO O CO 

OS o T-i CO 

CQ CS CO 



•jaqg ©piuo 



05 in CO o 
tH COlM CO t- 

C5 Oi rH 

IM (M CO CO M 



->* CO C^J C5 O 

CO in 00 00 CO 

Kl <M (M CO IM 



CC 00 O CO C~ CO Si 

C- 1-1 CO CO O 

00 CO in -^t in 

r-i 7:j CO CO CO C^ CO 



CO CO CO C<1 



a a> n 

05 CO 05 CS 
0> CO CO CO C) 

1* m in in CO 



05 o CO CO in 

O i-l 1-1 c- . 
. ... CO 

CO t~ 00 CO 

in in m in 



OC © l> CO 

o in CO c^i 
m m in in 



00 CO CO t- 



!>• 00 in 
05 CO i-i in c~ 

i-icoco eg CO 



O CO O CO 



rl 1-1 CO 00 

Tj! CO CO CO 



00 CO Tj< 
OS CD CO 

CO CO CO 



CO CO in CO 



•qSY 



OS CO O CO OS 

t> t> c-^ CO in 



OS CO t~ 00 CO 



O 00 00 Ci 00 CO CO 



ocoTHin 
m m 1-1 Ci 

I-H © o o 



s 3 p s s 

1-5 1-5 ^5 (-5 



CO m in in 

13 3 J3 « 

f-si-shsO 



o o • S 

^ O ® 



.a k « 

OS ® O t>j 



a O O O 

^ ^ d , d ^ d) 



Ph-w go 

CS (D ^ 

o Z o 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 135 









CO CO T*< J ■ 


u- c-i r-; 
X r: 


— 1 .-C C; !M 

L- ® U- ^ 


X ^ IS 

n o 


.-0 .-^ 5-q 






cocoro : : 




fc .-^ l^i 










SsS : : 








^ O » 






S'^d : : 


e£ o5 


M in Tj< 00 t> 


~5 ;o' 








s§s ; i 














fi^fi : : 






to ^ 








: : 








—! r-i -H 








^ ^ ^ ^ 




• • ^ 








: : 








?i ^ re 






fofic^i : : 


?i 7i r; 


5^ ci ^ s^i OS 




,-1 t- o o 




§ 


^Si ; : 














SiS : : 













cot: 
























1. 06 
. 55 

.34 
.35 
.33 




2. 52 
2. 17 
1.73 
1.38 


O 1 c 

2. 68 
2. 01 
2. 00 


1.96 
1.28 


1.42 
1.67 
1. 18 


3. 10 
2.41 
1 1.97 

1 


1.71 

1. 97 

2. 03 
1.43 


2.73 
2.31 
2.02 
1. 74 
1.57 


2.52 
1. 95 
1.76 


> 

15. 73 
13.58 
10. 81 
8.62 


19. 88 
16. 21 
12. 61 
12.49 ' 


12. 23 
7. 82 


8. 88 
10. 44 
7. 36 




10. 69 
12. 30 
12. 69 
8. 97 


17. 05 
14. 36 
12. 63 
10. 83 
9. 79 


15. 78 
12. 22 
11. 02 




18. 43 

22. 83 

23. 76 
24.34 


21.92 
25. 46 




21.87 
24.93 
22. 75 


18. 19 
21. 30 
18. 53 
18. 16 


18. 54 
22. 22 
22. 69 
25. 33 

19. 85 


26. 65 
25. 24 
24. 48 


52. 16 
, 51. 66 
54. 30 
54. 35 


48. 74 
51. 32 

51. 43 

52. 54 


55. 32 
56.85 


56. 12 
55. 32 
58.58 


45. 34 
48.39 
52. 51 




48. 73 
51. 03 
51. 46 
54. 79 
59. 71 


45. 27 

52. 01 

53. 38 


4. 69 
4. 46 

3.36 
3. 50 


4.88 
4. 07 
3. 90 
4.25 


3. 92 
2. 85 


3. 92 
3. 41 
3. 51 


4. 99 
3. 77 
3. 30 


5.29 
4. 41 
4. 52 
3. 85 


O M W 


3. 67 
3.27 
3. 72 


9. 21 
7. 90 
7. 75 
8. 17 


8. 07 

5. 51 
8.30 

6. 38 


6. 61 

7. 02 


7.23 
7. 73 
6. 21 


8.42 
7. 82 
9. 07 


7. 75 
6.81 
6. 08 
5. 13 


10. 65 

8. 95 

9. 26 
6. 68 
8. 55 


8. 63 
7. 26 
7. 40 


































mi 


HH Hill 


III 


Juue 
Juue 
Juue 
June 


illll 





I 



Mil 




m ' 11! 



ai 'iffiilii Hi ^li Hi i 



136 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



•epioaiuinqxY 

i 


3.19 




2.19 

3. 63 


1 

3.31 
3. 75 


CO X 

ci 


2. 45 
2. 00 
4.00 
3.31 


^ ^ S ?i 

CO CO TjJ 


00 
CO 




1 
i 

8.90 




3. 30 
12. 35 


9. 17 
5. 51 


5. 59 
8. 14 


I- U1 

OS CO « o 
CO •<* !0 


OS OS t-ca 
CO T)> 

00 00 l-H-H 


a 

Cl 

eo 




20.40 




9.64 
27. 43 


20.71 
13. 25 


12.42 
17. 47 


14. 22 
12. 62 
16. 07 
27.' 04 


—I CO OS in -M 

IM l> W OS CO 

CO OS OO' CO' CO 
r-c rl 1-1 W (M 


7. 45 




1.02 




.80 
1.92 


1. 52 
1.07 




OS ^ CO o 
05 t- OS 


1.29 
1.25. 
1 13 
1.16 
1.41 


OC 


•qsy 


2,79 




1.77 
4. 07 


2. 99 
2. 02 


2. 80 
2. 29 


1. 47 
1.50 

2. 20 
2. 70 


t- 00 OS CO 
OS 00 OS 10 

i-i rA ci c<i 


2. 35 




63. 70 




82.3 
50.6 


62.3 
74.4 


74.2 
68.4 


OS 00 OS 
W OO" Os' CO 

1» eo m 


■<*< t> OS 

U'S [- CO CO 

CO CO m 


82.3 


pioairanqiB-uou 

n9S0J(^TTI JO '!^tI9D .I9(J 


24. 1 
29.0 


10.6 
46.2 


10.6 
40.9 


36.8 
28.5 


ITS OS OS 

CO OS CO « 
(M CO 


© CO ic 1-1 
lO 1-^ » 


19.8 


•n9g 

-oj^ia piouiainqxB-uox 


^ o 


y-i O 


in to 

rH OS 


1.00 
. 41 


?0 ift 1-1 lA 
O 1-1 l« CO 


<M CO CO t- t- 

r-1 CM <M 


t~ 

CO 




1.41 
1.38 


1.98 
1.30 


1.41 
2. 35 


2. 72 
1.44 


1.70 
1. 52 
2.13 
1.14 


00 00 OS 

CO '9' 10 lO -<i< 
(M i-HH 1-1 . 


3.46 ! 


•spiouiuiTiqiY 


8. 78 
8. 61 


12. 37 
7. 35 


1-- to 

00 


17. 02 
9. 04 


10.59 
9.47 

13. 30 
7.11 


14. 91 

8. 75 

9. 48 
9.90 
9.31 


21.64 


•a9qig^ 9pnjo 


24. 52 
23.64 


S o 

00 irf 

I-l w 


24. 33 
21. 51 


21. 68 
25. 75 


17. 17 
20. 63 
21. 17 
25! 00 


—1 10 OS CO 

CO rH CO t- OS 

ITS irf CO CO 
CM (N I^J <M N 


18. 15 


•!^OBa;xa 99JJ U9S0J^l^ 


56.19 
56.32 


54.48 
55. 52 


54. 93 
51. 76 


48. 12 

55. 28 


61.58 
59. 45 
53. 40 

58! 02 


54. 00 
57.13 

55. 44 
58! 20 

.57.09 


42.04 




2. 81 
2. 92 


4.53 
3. 89 


4. 03 
4. 19 


2.34 
2.66 


CO 00 
<M CO 00 

CO Ti! 


rH ^ CO ^ 

CO CO 

CO CO IN CO 


OS 

00 


•qsY 


7. 70 
8. 51 


9, 98 
8.23 


7. 93 
7. 88 


10. 84 
7. 27 


OS OS t- OS 
M W 

t-^ 


t- ^ t- 
-I*' © CO in 

co' ifi CO* u-5 CO 


13. 28 


•sa;9;^9uii:iU90 ui !^qSi9H 




■ <M 
• t- 


ift o 
00 !0 




Ift ift trt 
iH Tt< Tj. l« 


CO l« © t- 
(N CO ■<9i 





^>5 



,2 o 



a s 

o o 



cC cS 

PI a 



00 (M -H — 
IM rH CM 

2 

P.CS 5S cS 2 



P C O o 



bJDo 

o o : • o 

53 o £ ® 

b-o 3 ® 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES 137 



2.48 
3. 19 
3.30 


M <N J<i CO M 


Ci (N s-i (N 


3. 76 
4.49 
6. 23 


W Cvj CO ^ :c 


3.94 
3.17 
5. 34 
5. 65 
9. 38 


8. 43 
11. 39 
15. 34 




12. 35 
9. 69 
14. 71 
12. 96 
20. 97 


.66 
.51 
1. 13 






1.97 

2.42 
2. 50 


•2. 12 

2. 20 

2. 49 
2 82 

3. 09 




82.7 
78.0 
71.5 


84. 00 
82. 70 
82. 30 
78. 90 
71. 60 


78.0 
82.4 
74.0 
76.4 
63.1 


17.0 
7 8 
23.2 


19.9 
19.7 
24.6 
25. 5 
22.6 


15.0 
18.7 
18.5 
6. 3 






^^^^ \ 


2. 29 
2. 32 
1.85 


fc w !N ci 


^ jv,- ^ rA 


14. 31 
14. 49 
11.59 


18.80 
14. 26 
16. 85 
14. 45 
13. 60 


11.67 
13. 10 
11. 10 
8. 99 
7. 60 


21. 75 
20.44 1 
21. 86 1 


15. 50 

16. 99 

17. 84 
20. 65 
22. 40 


18. 39 
18. 00 
20. 55 
23.93 
25. 42 


48. 74 
51. 73 
53. 81 


45. 55 
49. 69 
45. 07 
44 50 
47. 82 


57. 70 

55. 08 

56. 75 
54. 93 
56. 84 


3. 81 
2.32 
3.98 


O O O 




11.39 
11. 02 
8. 76 


13. 24 

12. 70 

14. 06 

13. 87 
10. 87 


00 d I-- 00 1>: 








May 21 
May 26 
June 4 

June 2 
June 12 
June 19 
July 10 
Oct. 25 


May 1 
May 4 
May 4 
May 12 
June 1 



S5 



^ m I III 



138 THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 

The preceding analyses furnish the data from which is derived the 
general conclusion that as a grass grows older its content of water de- 
creases, ash decreases, fat decreases, albuminoids decrease, carbo-hy- 
drates increase, crude fiber increases, non-albuminnoids decrease till 
bloom or slightly after, when it is at its lowest, and then increases again 
during the formation of the seed. 

There are exceptions to these rules, but for the large majority of spe- 
cies under ordinary conditions of environment they hold good. 

There are almost no exceptions to the fact that the water decreases in 
the maturer specimens that is to say, the plant gradually dries up and 
becomes less succulent. The ash is very dependent on locality and 
surroundings, and as in the analyses which are here published it in- 
cludes whatever soil there may be mechanically adherent to the blade 
or stalk as collected, it sometimes shows irregularities from one period 
to another. 

The albuminoids decrease in amount with great regularity, the few 
cases where an increase appears being owing to the fact that the speci- 
mens were probably grown under varying conditions. 

The fiber sometimes decreases, as in Bromus erectus^ but the change 
in that direction is never large. 

The non-albuminoid constituents, however, are often quite the reverse 
of constant in their manner of appearance and disappearance, and show 
themselves to be largely or more affected by environment than any other 
constituent. In Agrostis vulgaris they continue to decrease after bloom, 
and in Anthoxanthum odoratum and Festuca ovina they increase steadily 
from early growth to maturity. The relative amount present in the 
same species from different localities is extremely variable, as may be 
seen in the analyses of Phleum pratense, where specimens from Indiana 
contain almost no non-albuminoid nitrogen, while those from the Dis- 
trict of Columbia and elsewhere are well supplied. The specimens from 
poorer soil having the smallest amount in some cases and the largest in 
others, the fact can hardly be due directly and entirely to the lack of cul- 
tivation, but as the averages show that the best grasses contain the least 
non-albuminoids it is plain that it is dependent on the sources of nitro- 
gen and the supply furnished the plant. The usual changes in the non- 
albuminoids seem to point to the possibility that they increase at the 
time of the formation of the seed in the act of transferring to the seed, 
as amides, the nitrogen of the plant. 

THE BEST PERIOD OF GROWTH AT WHICH TO CUT FOR HAY. 

Although largely a matter of opinion, it would seem from the forego- 
ing results that the time of bloom or very little later is the fittest for 
cutting grasses to be cured as hay. The amount of water has dimin- 
ished relatively, and there is a proportionately larger amount of nutri- 
ment in the material cut, and the weight of the latter will be at its 
highest point economically considered. Later on, the amount of fiber 
becomes too prominent, the stalk grows hard, arid, indigestible, and the 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF THE UNITED STATES. 139 



albuminoids decrease, while the dry seeds are readilj' detached from 
their glumes and lost with their store of nitrogen. 

For different species, however, different times are undoubtedly suit- 
able, and experience must be ad,ded to our chemical knowledge to enable 
a rational decision to be arrived at. 

THE COMPOSITION OF THE ASH. 

The ash of many foreign varieties of grasses have been analyzed and 
the results collected and published by Wolff. Of American growth the 
ash of only a number of the wild grasses collected in 1878 have been 
examined. The results are here given : 

Ash a n cdyses — qrassei^. 



Name. 



Hierochloa borealis (Vanilla grass) . . 

Eleiisine Indwa (wire grass) 

Eleusine India (wire grass) 

Eleusine India (wire grass) 

JJniola latifoUa (fescue grass) 

Cyuodon dactylon (Bermuda grass). 
Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda grass) . 



Poa pratensis (Kentucky blue grass)... 

Poa serotiyia (fowl meadow grass) 

Dactylocteniu'i/i Egypt (Egyptian grass) 

Panieum sanguinale (Crab grass) 

Panicum jumentorum (true Guinea 

grass) 

Panicum obtusum 

Panicum virgatum (tall panic grass) . . . 

Panicum 

Panicum Texaaum (Texas mUlet) 

Panicum Crusgalli (barn-yard grass) . . . 
Panicum filiforme (sleTiieT crab grass). 

Sorghum halapense (Johnson grass) 

Sorghum avenaceum (Indian grass) 

Muhlenbergia diffusa (drop seed) 

Bromus unioloides (Schrader"s grass) . . 

Prornus carinatus (broome grass) 

Agrostis exarata (brown top) 

Paspalum Iceve (water grass) 

Setaria setosa (bristly foxtail) 

Leptoehloa mucroaata (feather grass) . . . 

Tripsacum dactyloides (gama grass) 

Tricuspis seslerioides (tall red top) 



7. 42 


2. 55 


2. 69 


4. 24 


9. 63 


5. 79 


9. 84 


8. 55 


4. 92 


2. 62 


6. 20 


9. 37 


5. 09 


11. 31 


6. 02 


4. 60 




2. 80 


l! 33 


trace 


9. 88 


4. 76 


10. 80 


3. 35 


8. 37 


4. 42 


6.40 


4. 02 


4. 37 


1 2.51 


5.18 


i 6.71 


5. 50 


i 3.56 


4.37 


5.29 


8.48 


! 4. 63 


4.27 


- 3. 69 


6.37 { 


4.84 


10. 44 


2.96 


2.35 ' 


2. 13 


6. 65 ' 


3. 39 


8.79 


5. 61 


9.29 


3. 94 


8.01 : 


1. 93 


6.18 


5. 64 


3, 24 


3. 51 


6. 46 


3.31 


2. 52 


3. 69 


1. 58 


4. 04 



Silica, Si 02. 


Chlorine, CI. 


Calcium ox- 
ide, Ca 0. 


- C 

r. g 

2 


■ >■> 


1 

;42. 73 


4.49 


3.97 


2.54 


31. 51 


47. 56 


10. 09 


!l0. 27 


4. 10 


10. 27 


24. 61 


6. 71 


^13. 65 


7. 38 


24. 79 


16. 25 


9. 61 


11. 10 


5. 57 


30. 98 


66. 87 


4. 71 


1 7.15 


3. 02 


5. 52 


30. 29 


6. 05 


13. U 


5. 00 


22. 99 


30. 27 


9. 46 


■ 7.99 


2. 96 


22. 89 


27. 36 


11. 03 


i 2.64 


2. 66 


33. 53 


58. 33 


6. 37 


6.76 


1. 83 


13. 93 


64. 62 


15. 65 


2.12 


. 58 




30. 25 


6. 30 


1 4.81 


3. 23 


33. 81 


37. 10 


3. 80 


1 6.70 


2. 92 


31. 71 


34. 17 


6. 76 


20. 67 


6. 91 


21. 20 


30. 93 


6. 04 


1 4.40 


7. 98 


33. 56 


16.51 ! 


7. 77 


10. 18 


14. 16 


35. 93 


48.60 : 


4. 20 


5. 91 


3. 13 


21. 65 


51.17 1 


4. 93 


7.87 


3. 63 


18. 76 


45.10 ■ 


4. 06 


7.39 


7.98 


22. 53 


34 31 I 


6. 55 


7. 39 


4.57 


27.95 


42. 18 : 


11. 48 


7. 23 


5. 52 


13. 26 


40.36 I 


12. 17 


4. 69 


5.18 


12. 98 


22.21 i 


4. 58 


12. 87 


6. 73 


35. 72 


61. 56 


6. 11 


2. 92 


1. 36 


16.84 


39.98 


8. 21 


11. 95 


4. 39 


17. 32 


4. 84 


16. 84 


4. 43 


4. 64 


37. 20 


38.33 


3. 30 


6.19 


2.19 


31. 61 


34.63 


3. 60 


5. 61 


3. 84 


38. 41 


44. 65 


1. 73 


9. 36 


5. 26 


25. 44 


42.59 


3. 81 


2. 31 


1. 56 


39. 33 


55. 92 1 


2. 89 


5. 94 


2. 66 


20. 21 


37. 84 1 


13. 08 


1.64 


1. 07 


29. 06 


37.52 


7. 39 


2.32 


.53 


38. 49 



9. 61 
12.16 

7. 01 
15. 70 

6. 95 
t 2.79 



4. 62 
3. 86 



12. 00 

13. 41 
3. 68 
6. 74 
6. 78 

16. 38 



1.81 
6. 30 
8.13 



.25 
1.26 



3. 55 



83 



1. 22 
1. 74 

1. 58 
.37 

".'si 

"i.'33 
1.27 

2. 98 

"i.'i2 

2.47 
.80 
4. 77 



- CONCLUSION. 

The work which has been collected in the previous pages extended 
over several years, from 1878 to 1883. It was inaugurated by Dr. Peter 
Collier, as chemist to this Department, and the laboratory work for the 
first year was in the hands of Mr. Henry B. Parsons, Mr. Charles Wel- 
lington, and myself. The remainder of the work has been under my 
own supervision, and has been almost entirely carried out by Mr. Miles 
Puller and myself. It is hoped that the collection and rearrangement 
of the results will give them an increased value. 



\ 



INDEX 

TO 

AGRICULTURAL GRASSES OF UNITED STATES. 



INDEX TO COMMON NAMES. 



Page. 

Barley grass 109 

Barn-yard grass 38 

Beach grass 70 

Bear grass 58 

Beard grass 57, 58 

Western 57 

Bent grass 65, 67 

Bermuda grass 26, 80 

Blue grass. ^ 96 

- Kentucky 94 

Oregon 98 

Texas 97 

Blue joint 10, 69, 108 

Blue stem 10, 69, 108 

Bottle grass 43 

Borden's grass 65 

Bristly grass 42 

Brome grass 107 

Broom grass or sedge 49 

finger-spiked 50 

heavy-topped 50 

Buffalo grass : 8, 82, 84 

Bunch grass 6, 9, 16, 17, 58, 59, 69, 104 

Canary grass, reed 53 

Southern reed 54 

Stewart's 54 

Cane, African 43 

Chinese sugar 52 

Sorghum sugar '52 

Cheat or chess 105 

Cocksfoot grass 92 

Cord grass 44 

Corn, broom * 52 

Chocolate 52 

Doora or Doura 52 

Guinea 52 

Indian 46 

Crab grass 83 

Crowfoot grass 83 

Cuba grass 51 

Cut grass 48 

Dennet grass 112 

Dog grass 108 

Dog's bent grass 67 

Dropseed grass. 60 

Evergreen grass 77,103 



Page. 

False rice 48 

Gruinea grass 51 

Feathergrass 58,83 

Fescue, broad-flowei^ed 91 

meadow 103 

sheep's 103 

small 104 

tall 103 

Western 104 

Fine top 65 

Fiorin 66 

Fox-tail 10, 42 

meadow 55 

water 56 

Gamma grass 17, 45 

Gilbert's relief grass 54 

Goose grass 100 

Gramma grass 82 

low 82 

tall 62 

Guatemala grass 46 

Guinea grass 34, 51 

Grass, description of 12 

report upon ; 18 

Hair grass 72 

wood 72 

Herd's grass of Pennsylvania 65 

Holy grass 55 

Howell's grass 70 

Hungarian grass 41 

Indian rice 47 

grass 50 

Johnson grass 25, 51 

June grass 9, 94 

Lyme grass 110 

Manna grass, floating 102 

nerved 101 

Marsh grass 44, 92 

tall 44 

Mat grass 7o 

Meadow grass, fowl 95 

nerved lui 

pungent ^^9 

reed 1 00 

rough-stalked iio 

Meadow soft grass 73 

141 



142 



INDEX. 



Page. 



Mean's grass 51 

Melic grass 90 

bulbous 90 

Mesquite, bristly 7. . 81, 82 

false 84 

low 7 

tall 82 

Millet 35, 43 

African 52 

Arabian 51 

cat tail 43 

East India 43 

Egyptian 43 

evergreen 51 

German 41 

Hungarian 41 

Indian 52 

Italian 41 

pearl 43 

Texas 36 

wild 60 

Kimble Will 60 

Oat grass. 75 

California 79 

meadow 77 

mountain 79 

silky-liowered 79 

talj 77 

wild 76 

Old witch grass 41 

Orchard grass. 92 

Pampas rice 52 

Panic grass 34 

cane-like 40 

bairy-stalked 41 

obtuse-flowered 40 

red-topped 37 

tall 39 

two-edged .... 38 

Para grass 35 

Paspalum, hairy-flowered 31 

smooth 31 

Pigeon grass 43 

Purple three-awned grass 57 

Quack grass 108 

Quaking grass, tall 101 

Quitch grass 108 

Eandall grass 103 

Hattlesnake grass 101 



' Page. 

Eed top 65 

mountain 66, 67 

northern 66 

; tall 85 

i Eeed grass 88 

i small 69 

Rescue grass 106 

Rye grass 107 

^ giant 112 

i Italian 107 

smaller 112 

j smooth Ill 

[ Western 112 

' wild 110,111 

: Salt grass 9,21,44,65,92 

Sand grass 86 

Sesame grass 45 

Seneca grass 55 

j Schrader's'grass 106 

Slender grass 83 

Smut grass 63 

Soft grass 73 

Spear grass 94 

annual 100 

mountain 99 

I tali . 99 

I white 100 

i wood 99 

! Spike grass 87 

Squirrel-tail grass 110 

Sweet vernal grass 54 

Switch grass 39 

Teosinte 46 

Terrell grass 110,111 

Three-awned grass 57 

Timothy 63 

alpine 8 

! California 54 

I Twitch grass ^ 108 

Vanilla grass 55 

j Yelvet grass 73 

i Water oats 47 

' Wheat grass 108 

White grass 48 

small-flowered 48 

Wild barley 110 

: Wild oats 75 

I Wild rice 47 

: Wild rye..... 110 



INDEX OF SCIEXTIFIC NAMES. 



Page. 



Agropyriim 108 

glaucum 10, 109 

repens 108 

Agrostis 65 

alba - 66 

canina 67 

exarata 8, 66 

microphylla 67 

stolon ifera 66 

vulgaris 65 

Aira 72 

Alopecurus alpinus 57 

geniculatus : , 56 

glaucus 8 

pratensis 55 

Ammopliila 70 

arundinacea 70 

loiigifolia. 71 

Anaropogon 49 

furcatus 50 

marcrourus 50 

scoparius 49 

virginicns 49 

' Anthoxanthum odoratum 54 

Aristida 57 

bromoides 57 

purpurascens 57 

purpurea 57 

Arrhenatherum avenaceum 77 

Avena 75 

fatua 75 

flavescens 77 

pratensis 77 

striata 76 

Beckmanuia erucseformis 7 

Bouteloua 81 

hirsuta 82 

oligostachya 8,82 

polystacbya 82 

racemosa 82 

Brizopyram (disticblis) 92 

Bromus 105 

erectus 107 

secalinus 105 

xinioloides 106 

Calamagrotis (deyeuxia) 69 

Chloris alba 81 

Cbrysopogon nutans 50 

Cinta arundinacea 68 

pendula G8 

Cynodon dactylon 80 

Dactylis glomerata 92 

Danthonia 78 

Californica 79 



Dantbonia— Continued. 

compressa 

sericea ."^ 

spicata 

Descbampsia 

cajspitosa 

dantbonioides 

flexuosa 

Deyenxia 

Canadensis . . . 

Howellii 

sylvatica 

Digitaria 

sanguinale ... 

villosa 

Diplacbne (Leptochloa) 

dubia '. 

fascicularis 

Disticblis maritinia 

Eleusine indica 

Elymus 

Canadensis 

coudensatus 

striatus 

Virginicus 

Eragrostis 

poasoides, var. .. 

Pursbii 

Eriocoma cuspidata 
Eucbleeua luxurians 
Festuca 

elatior 

raicrostacbys . . . 

ovina 

scabrella 

Glyceria 

aquatica 

Canadensis , 

tiuitans 

nervata 

Hierocbloa borealis 

Hilaria Jamesii 

Holcus lanatus 

Hordeum jubatum 

murinum 

nodosum 

Kceleria cristata . . 
Leersia 

oryzoides 

Tirginica 

Leptocbloa muciouata 

Lolium pereiine 

Melica 

bulbosa 



144 



INDEX. 



Page. 

Melica — Continued. 

imperfecta 91 

mutica 90 

Milium efiusum 60 

Muhlenbergia 60 

comata 62 

diffusa 60 

glomerata 61 

gracilis 62 

Mexicana 61 

sylvatica 61 

Panicum 34 

agrostoides 37 

anceps 38 

barbinode 35 

capillare 41 

crus-galli 38 

divaricatum 40 

gib bum 40 

• jumentorum 34 

roiliaceum 35 

obtusum 40 

proliferum 37 

sanguinale 33 

Texanum 36 

Tirgatum 39 

Paspalum 31 

lae<^e... 31 

dilitatum . ' 31 

Floridanum 32 

lentiferum 32 

remotum 32 

ovatum 24 

platycaule 32 

plicatulum , 32 

setaceum 33 

Pencillaria spicata 43 

Pbalaris 53 

arundinacea 53 

intermedia 54 

Phleum alpinum 8 

pratense 63 

Phragmites communis 88 

Pleuraphis Jamesii 48 

Poa 9, 94 

alsodes .._ 99 

andina 99 



Page. 

Poa— Continued. 

annua 100 

arachnifera 97 

compressa 96 

pratensis 94 

serotina 95 . 

tenuifolia 98 

trivialis 95 

Polypogon Monspeliensis 68 

Setaria 41 

glauca 43 

Italica 41 

setosa 42 

viridis 43 

Sorghum halapense 51 

nutans 50 

Yulgare 52 

Spartina 44 

cynosuroides 44 

juncea 44 

Sporobolus airoides 65 

cryptandrus 64 

heterolepis 64 

Indicus 63 

Stipa 58 

avenacea 59 

comata 59 

eminens 58 

setigera 58 

spartea 59 

viridula 58 

Tricuspis (Triodia) 85,86 

Triodia 85 

acuminata 86 

seslerioides 85 

trinerviglumis 85 

Triplasis purpurea i 86 

Tripsacum dactyloides 45 

Trisetum 74 

cernuum 74 

palustre 74 

subspicatum , 75 

Triticum 108, 109 

Uniola 91 

latifolia 91 

Zeamays 46 

Zizania aquatica 47 



Plate 1. 




Paspalum L^VE. 



PASPALUM DILITATUM. 



I 

I 

! 



Plate 3, 




Paspalum setaceum. 



I 



I 

i 



Plate 4. 




PAKICUM SANGUINALE. 



Panicum jumentorum. 



At 



Plate 6. 




PANICUM BARBINODE. 



Plate 7, 




PANICUM PliOLIFEKUM. 



Plate 9. 




Panicum agrostoides. 



Plate 10. 




Panicum ANCEPS. 



Plate 12. 




Panicum VIRGATUM. 



I 



I 




PANICUM OIBBUM. 



Plate 15. 




Panic UM OAPiLLAiiE. 



Plate 16. 




Setaria Italica. 



I 



Plate 17. 




Setaria setosa. 



Plate 18. 




Setaria glauca. 



Plate 19^ 




Spartina cynosuroides. 



Plate 20. 




Spartina JimCEA. 



i 



1 



Plate 21. 




Tripsacum dactyloides. 



ZlZANIA AQTJATICA. 



"i 



Plate 23. 




HlLARIA JAMESII. 



I 



AnDROPOGON YlRGrlNICUS. 



Plate 25. 




Andropogon scoparius. 



Plate 26. 




Andropogon mackoukus. 



i 



Plate 27. 




AnDROPOGON rUKCATUS. 



Plate 28. 




OHRYsopoaoN (Sorghum) nutans. 



Plate 29. 




Sorghum iialapense. 



I 



4t 



Plate 30. 




Plate 31. 




Phalauis intermedia. 



Plate 32. 




Anthoxanthu:ii odoratum. 



1 



Plate 33. 




HiEROCHLOA BOREALIS. 



1 



Plate 34. 




Alopecurus pratensis. 



Plate 35. 




Aristida PUKPURASCENS, 



4 



Plate 36. 




Aristida purpurea. 



I 



Plate 37. 




Aristida bromoides. 



Plate 38. 




StIPA VIRIDULA. 



I 



Plate 40, 




Stipa EMINENS. 



Plate 41. 




T TAYLOR asb* 



Ericoma cuspidata. 



Plate 42. 




Milium effusum. 



Plate 43. 




MUHLENBEKGIA DIFFUSA. 



Plate 44. 




MUHLENBERaiA MeXICANA. 



Plate 45. 




MUHLENBEEGIA SYLVATICA. 



Plate 46. 




MUHLENBERaiA GLOMERATA. 



Plate 47. 




MUHLENBERGIA C0:MATA. 



I 



Mi 



MUHLENBEHaiA aRACILIS. 



1^ 



Plate 49. 




Phleum PKATENSE. 



ii 



Plate 50, 




Sporobolus Indicus. 



Sporobolus cryptandrus. 



i 



Spoeobolus airoides. 





I 



Plate 54. 




AOROSTIS EXARATA. 



Plate 54 a. 




Agrostis exarata (var.). 



Plate 55. 




Agrostis microphylla. 



Plate 56. 




AGROSTIS CANINA. 



[ 

1 

♦ 




4 




POLYPOGON MONSPELIEA^SIS. 



Plate 58. 




CiiSNA AUUNDINACEA. 



Plate 59. 




JDeyeuxia (Gal a:\iagrostis) Canadensis. 



\ 



Plate 61. 




Deyeuxia Howellii. 



Plate 64. 




II 




Teisetum palustre. 



Plate 66. 




Trisetum CERNUUM. 



Plate 67 




TBISETmi SCJBSP1CATU3I. 



I 



Plate 68. 




AVENA FATUA. 



Plate 69. 




AVENA STRIATA. 



Plate 70. 




Arrhenatherum AYENACEUM. 



Plate 71. 




Dantiionia SPICATA. 



Plate 72. 




Danthonia compressa. 



/ 




Danthonia seeicea. 



\ 



Plate 74. 




Banthonia Californica. 




Oynodon dactylon. 



Plate 76. 




Chloris alba. 



BOUTELOUA OLIGOSTACHYA. 



Plate 78. 




BOUTELONA POLYSTAOHYA. 



1 



Plate 79. 




Plate 80. 




Leptochloa muceonata. 



Plate 81. 




BUCHLOE DACTYLOIDES. 



Triodia (Tricuspis) seslbrioides. 



Triodia trinerviglumis. 



Plate 84. 




Plate 85. 




DiPLACHNE FASCICULARIS. 



! 



Plate 86. 




DiPLACHNE DUBIA. 



Plate 87. 




PHRAaMlTES COMMUNIS. 



Plate 88. 




KOELEEIA CEISTATA. 



I 




EKAGrKO«TlS PO^liOlDES. 



Plate 90. 




ERAaEOSTIS PURSHII. 




Melica mutica, var. diffusa. 



/ 



Plate 92. 




Melica BULBOSA. 



opiate 93. 




MeLICA IMPFKFECTA. 



Ill 



Plate 94. 




Uniola LATIFOLIA. 




DiSTICHLIS MARITIMA. 




Bactylis glomeeata. 



Plate 97. 




POA PRATENSIS. 



II 

1 



Plate 98. 




POA SEROTINA. 



i 



Plate 99. 




POA COMPRESSA. 



Plate 100. 




POA ARACHNIFERA. 



Plate 101. 




PoA TE>'riFOLiA (var.). 



Plate 103. 




POA ANDINA (of Nuttall). 



Plate 104. 




- Glyceria aquatica. 



I 



1 



Plate 105. 




Glyceria nervata. 



Plate 106. 




Glyceria Canadensis. 



Plate 107. 




Festuca ELATIOR. 



Plate 108. 




Festuca ovina. 



Plate 109. 




Festuca miceostachys. 



Plate 110. 




Festuca scabrella. 



Plate 111. 




Bromus secalinus. 



I 



Plate 112. 




Bromus unioloides a size). 



Plate 113. 




Bromus EHECTUS. 



Plate 114. 




LOLIUM PEEENNE, 



Plate 115. 




AauoPYKUM (Tkiticum) REPEINIS. 



Plate 116. 




HORDEUM NODOSUM. 



Plate 117. 




ELY3IUS Canadensis. 



Plate 118. 




MAR)(.D£L. 



Elymus ViKaiNICUS. 



Plate 119. 




Elymus striat'us. 



Plate 120. 




Elymus condensatus. 



I r. ^,^y '09 



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 



THE AGRICULTURAL GRASSES 



UJMITED STATES, 



DR. OEORGE VASEY, 

BOTANIST OF TUH DEI'AIITMENT OF AGEICDLTURE 



THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION 



OP 



AMERICAN GRASSES, 



CLIFFORD RICHARDSON, 

ASSISTANT CHEMIST. 



S B 

Y53 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT TlilNTING OFFICE. 
1^84. 



It 



